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SHOE T/S.E R M N S -^ 

Cy^ cM OTi c.\^-(r*~ eyc&X 

BEINa A PLAIN AND FAMILIAR EXPOSITION OP 

THE APOSTLES' CREED; THE LORD'S PRAYER; THE ANGELICAL SALUTATION; 

THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD; THE PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH; THE 

SEVEN SACRAMENTS; AND THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS. 



/ 

BY H. J. THOMAS, 

CANON OF THE CATHEDEAL OF LIEGE, BELGIUM. 



S^ransiateb from \\\t Jrencl), 
BY EEV. G. A. HAMILTON. 

■WITH AN 

INTRODUCTION, 



BY M. J. SPALDmG, D.D., 

BISHOP OP LOUISVILLE. 




LOUISVILLE, KY: 
WEBB & LEVERING. 

1859. 



* . » t 
> 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 

WEBB k LEVERING, 

in the Clerk's Office' of the District Court for the District of Kentucky. 



Stereotyped by Hills, O'DiiscoU & Co, 
141 Main St., Cincinnati. 



TO THE 



VERY REV. JOSEPH T. JARBOE, O.S.D, 



I>RKSir>ENT OB' 



SINSINAWA MOUND COLLEGE, 



THB 



TRANSLATOR BEGS TO INSCRIBE THESE 

SHOET SEEMONS, 

AS A SLIGHT 

TESTIMONIAL OF GRATITUDE 
FOR PAYORS RECEIVED. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

Sermon. Paos 

Introduction, & 

I. — The Teachings of Religion, 15 

II.— On Faith, 20 

APOSTLES' CREED. 

III.— Existence of God, 25 

IV. — Omnipotence of God, 30 

V. — God is Everywhere ; God Knows All Things, 35 

VL— Goodness of God, 39 

VII. — Providence of God 44 

VIIL— The World and the Angels, 49 

IX. — Creation and Sin of the first Man, 53 

X. — The Incarnation, » 58 

XI. — Conception and Birth of Jesus Christ, 63 

XII.— The Infant Saviour, 67 

XIII. — Life of our Divine Saviour, 72 

XIV.— Sufferings of Jesus Christ, 76 

XV. — Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 81 

XVI. — Ascension of Jesus Christ, 86 

XVII.— On Heaven, 90 

XVIII.— General Judgment, 94 

XIX.— The Holy Ghost, , 99 

XX.— The Church, 103 

XXL— Marks of the Church 108 

XXIL— Rule of Faith, 114 

XXIII. — Communion of Saints, 119 

XXIV. — Forgiveness of Sins and Resurrection of the Body, . 124 

XXV.— The Two Eternities, 129 

XXVL— Eternal Life— or Death, 134 

V 



VI CONTENTS. 

PART II. 

Sermon. Page 

XXVIL— On Hope, 141 

XXVIIL— On Prayer in General, 146 

XXIX. — Conditions of Prayer, 151 

THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

XXX.— First Words of the Lord's Prayer, 156 

XXXI.— First Petition of the Lord's Prayer, , 160 

XXXII. — Second and Third Petitions of the Lord's Prayer, 165 

XXXIII.— Fourth and Fifth Petitions of the Lord's Prayer, 169 

XXXIV. — Sixth and Seventh Petitions of the Lord's Prayer, 173 

THE HAIL MART. 

XXXV.— The Hail Mary 178 

XXXVL— Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 182 

XXXVII.— Imitation of the Blessed Virgin, 187 



PART III. 



XXXVIIL— The Love of God, 193 

XXXIX.— Love of our Neighbor, 197 

XL. — The Commandments of God in General, 201 

TEN COMMANDMENTS. 

XLI. — First. — Adoration of God, 205 

XLII. Invocation of Saints, 210 

XLIII. — Second. — On Taking the Lord's Name, 214 

XLIV. On the Sin of Profanity, 219 

XLV.— Third.— Sanctification of the Lord's Day, 223 

XLVL Sanctification of the Lord's Day.— (Continued), ... 228 

XLVIL— Fourth.— Duties of Children to their Parents, 232 

XLVIIL Duties of Children to their Parents.— (Continued) 237 

XLIX. Duties of Parents 242 

L. Duties of Servants to their Masters, 247 

LI. Duties of Masters to their Servants, 252 

LIL— Fifth.— On Murder, 257 

LIIL On Scandal, 262 

LIV.— Sixth.— On Adultery, 266 



CONTENTS. Vn 

Sermon. Page. 

LV.— SEVENTH.~On Theft, 271 

L VI. On Theft.— (Continued), 276 

LVII. Restitution, 281 

LVIII.— Eighth.— False Testimony, 285 

LIX. Detraction, 289 

LX. Evil Suspicions and Rash Judgments, 293 

LXI. — ^NiNTH AND Tenth. — Bad Thoughts and Desires, 298 



PART IV. 

PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH. 

LXII. — Precepts of the Church in General, 303 

LXIII.— First.- Festivals of the Church, 307 

LXIV. — Second. — Excellence and End of the Sacrifice of the Mass, 312 

LXV. The Sacrifice of the Mass.— (Continued), 316 

LXVI. — Third and Fourth. — Confession — Easter Communion 320 

LXVIL— Fifth and Sixth.— Fasts of the Church 325 

LXVIIL— On Grace, 330 



PART V. 

SEVEN SACRAMENTS. 

LXIX. — On the Sacraments in General, 339 

LXX.— On Baptism 344 

LXXI. — Sacrament of Baptism. — (Continued), 349 

LXXII. — Sacrament of Confirmation, 353 

LXXIIL— On the Eucharist, 357 

LXXIV.— Effects of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, 362 

LXXV. — Dispositions for Communion, , 366 

LXXVI.— On a Bad Communion, 370 

LXXVIL— On Frequent Communion, 374 

LXXVIIL— On the Sacrament of Penance, 379 

LXXIX. — On the Examination of Conscience, 383 

LXXX.— On Contrition, 388 

LXXXI.— Firm Purpose of Amendment 393 

LXXXIL— On Confession, 398 

LXXXIII.— On Confession.— (Continued), 403 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Sermon. Page. 

LXXXIV. — On Satisfaction or Penance, 408 

LXXXV.— On Indulgences, 413 

LXXXVL— On Extreme Unction, 418 

LXXXVII.— Holy Orders, 422 

LXXXVIII.~On the Sacrament of Matrimony, 427 



PART VI 



LXXXIX.—On Sin in General, 433 

XC— On Sin.-— (Continued), .438 

XCL— On Mortal Sin , 442 

XCII.— On Venial Sin, 447 

SEVEN DEADLY SINS. 

XCIII.— On Pride, 452 

XCTV. — On Avarice or Covetousness, 455 

XCV.— On Lust or Impurity, 463 

XCVI.— On Envy, 467 

XCVIL— On Gluttony or Intemperance, 472 

XCVIII.— On Anger, 477 

XCIX.— On Sloth, 482 

C. — On our Inclination to Sin, 487 



INTKODUCTION 



The Hundred Short Sermons of Canon Thomas, now pre- 
sented for the first time to the American public, may be said 
to constitute an epitome of Moral Theology, and of Dogmatic 
Theology also, so far as this is connected with Moral. The 
chief characteristics which mark these discourses are brevity, 
clearness, solidity, simplicit}^, unction, method and thorough- 
ness. 

The Canon Penitentiary of Liege has much to say, and he 
says it well, without superfluity of words or circumlocution. 
He goes straight to the point, and deals seldom or but slightly 
in incidental matter, or in illustrations not directly pertinent 
to the subject. When you have read one of his Short Sermons, 
you have before you the skeleton of a much more lengthy 
discourse ; with all its parts in their proper places, and the 
whole well knit together. He is terse and condensed, without 
becoming either dry or obscure. And withal, there is a sim- 
plicity and an unction in the style and manner, which attracts 
you onward, and prevents your growing weary. In a moral 
or devotional work this is a great recommendation. 

But what chiefly distinguishes the Short Sermons from 
many other works of the kind with which we are acquainted, 
are the qualities of method and thoroughness. The Canon's 
method is based upon correct theological principles, and he 
carries out his plan so thoroughly as almost to exhaust the 

(ix) 



INTRODUCTION. 



whole subject of Christian morals and doctrine; for many 
points in Christian morals can not be understood, much less 
developed, without a study and uufoldiug of the doctrines on 
which they are grounded. The Hundred Sermons are not on 
detached or disconnected subjects ; they follow one another in 
regular order, and form a compact whole, remarkable for a 
Catholic unity growing out of the admirable harmony of its 
various parts. One subject naturally leads to another, and 
this to the following, in regular logical sequence. Thus the 
series is complete, and the amount of matter embraced in so 
narrow a compass is wonderful. 

A few words on the method adopted by the author will 
more fully explain our meaning, and will, at the same time, 
serve as a not inappropriate Introduction to the work. 

The Canon's plan is based upon a theological principle 
which is not new, but, on the contrary, very old and very well 
known. It is this; that Faith, Hope and Charity are the 
elements of the inner Christian life, and constitute the soul 
of the Church. These three great theological virtues lift up 
man unto God, and keep him united with God. They con- 
stitute the bonds of union between the soul and its Creator ; 
thus carrying out the etymological meaning of the word Re- 
ligion, The first bond of union between the soul and God, 
knitted in the garden of Eden, was broken by the primeval 
fall of man ; the second bond, by which the manifold evils 
which followed the disruption of the first were repaired, was 
established by Jesus Christ, who by His abundant redemption 
thus hound man again to his God. 

The soul has three faculties in the natural order, and she 
may be said to have also three faculties in that which is 
supernatural. By Faith, she is taught of God ; by Hope, 
she is lifted up to God ; by Charity, she is united with God. 
The Doctrines, the Moral Precepts, and the Sacraments, 
delivered or instituted by Jesus Christ, constitute the divine 
aliment on which these three virtues feed, and by which they 
are kept alive and in vigorous operation ; while the solemn 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

warnings which He uttered against sin point to the poison 
which is to be carefully guarded against in the spiritual warfare. 
The method of the Short Sermons is based upon this idea. 
The series is divided into Six Parts, concerning each of which 
we will offer a few remarks. 

I. The First Part treats of Faith, which is " the beginning, 
the root, and the foundation of all justification," according to 
the holy Council of Trent. It embraces twenty-six Sermons ; 
the first two of which are on the nature and characteristics of 
Faith, and the remaining twenty-four furnish an exposition 
of the leading articles of Faith contained in the Apostles' 
Creed. 

II. The Second Part is on Hope, " by which we are saved." 
It contains eleven Sermons ; the first of which is on the na- 
ture and grounds of Hope, and the remainder on prayer in 
general, and on the various parts of the Lord's Prayer, and 
the Angelical Salutation. Hope, based itself on Faith, origi- 
nates and elicits trustful prayer to God, invoking His all 
powerful and all bountiful aid in our manifold sorrows, neces- 
sities and sins ; and it also inspires earnest and confident peti- 
tions to Her — *' Our tainted nature's solitary boast" — who is 
the sweet Mother of our Saviour God and Elder Brother 
Jesus Christ ; and who is, by the fact, our Mother also, ever 
ready to look down on us with a Mother's eye from her bright 
seat in the heavens, and ever prepared, with a Mother's 
readiness and a Mother's undying love, to extend to us in our 
necessities and dangers a Mother's powerful protection, by 
efficacious intercession in our behalf with her divine Son. 
He whom she bore, and who never refused her any thing on 
earth, will not surely refuse to grant her petitions in heaven. 

III. The Third Part ti-eats of Charity, in its twofold aspect ; 
the love of God above all things, and the love of our neighbor 
as ourselves. The test of love, given by our blessed Lord 
himself, is the keeping of the Commandments. Hence, after 
first treating in general of the love of God and of the neigh- 
bor, the author devotes the remaining Sermons of this part to 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

a lucid explanation of the Ten Commandments of God, un- 
folding the nature of their divine precepts, the powerful 
motives for observing them, and the practical manner of doing 
so with a fidelity persevering even unto the end. This is 
accomplished in twenty-four Sermons. 

lY . The Fourth Part is a Sequel to the Third. It treats of 
the Commandments of the Church — which Christ commands 
us to hear — first in general, and then on each one of the Six 
in particular, thus containing seven Sermons. 

Y. Next to the Commandments come the Sacraments, which 
are treated of in twenty solid and well considered discourses. 
The Sacraments are the divinely constituted channels of grace, 
and, in a certain sense, the organs of the Church, through 
which its soul — consisting of Faith, Hope and Charity — lives 
and breathes in this outward world. "We say lives^ to denote 
that the Sacraments, though they somewhat resemble the 
organs of sense in the body, yet contain an internal life^ 
which the merely corporeal organs have not. It belongs to 
the essence of a Sacrament to have a body and a soul ; — an 
external form or organization, and an internal grace or life. 
The grace necessarily follows the external sign or emblem, 
unless an obstacle be interposed by human perversity daring 
to receive negligently or unworthily the holy things of God. 
It may be well to explain, a little more in detail, what we 
mean by denominating the seven Sacraments, in a qualified 
sense, the organs of Faith, Hope and Charity, which, as we 
have said, constitute the spiritual life of the Church. 

Baptism may be called the Sacrament of Faith. By the 
early Greek Fathers, it was called the Sacrament of Illumine 
ation. By it we are initiated into the body of true believers, 
the Church of the Living God. By it and through it, saving 
Faith is bestowed, either actually or in its infused elements, 
on the recipient who opposes no obstacle to the action of 
grace. In Confirmation, this infused faith is strengthened by 
the Holy Ghost, who thereby enters into our souls and hearts, 
to enlighten and strengthen them for the combat. By the 



INTRODUCTION. XlU 

Holy Eucharist, we are corporeally and sweetly united with 
Jesus Christ himself — the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, — 
and, at the same time, the Living Fountain of divine Charity. 
In the Sacrament of Penance, the wounds which we may 
have received after Baptism in the battle of life are healed ; 
while by Extreme Unction, the traces of these wounds — the 
remains of sin — are removed by the holy unction with prayer, 
and we are prepared to meet with Hope the Saviour God in 
judgment. By Holy Orders and Matrimony, we receive 
special graces for particular conditions and callings in life. 

Thus the Seven Sacraments abundantly supply all our wants, 
and afford us adequate divine aid for every necessity and for 
every emergency of life. They all thus feed the three great 
virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. They strengthen our 
weakness, animate our Faith, enliven our Hope, and inflame 
our Charity. They all lift us from earth, and raise us up 
toward heaven. 

YI. After the lights come the shadows. After considering 
the aids to salvation comes serious reflection on the obstacles 
which may interpose. The work would be thus obviously 
incomplete, if it presented only the efliicacy of Faith, the con- 
solation of Hope, and the sweetness of Charity, with the arms 
of the holy Sacraments by which these virtues achieve victory 
over the devil, the world, and the flesh. It must exhibit along 
with the wholesome food the poison also, that we may beware 
of it ; and by the side of the armory of God, the weapons 
likewise of Satan, that we may be able skillfully to parry 
them, and to turn them away harmless. Without this neces- 
sary safe- guard. Faith, Hope and Charity would fail effectually 
to accomplish their noble work of redemption. We would be 
exposed to lose these virtues in the great battle ; we would 
liill mortally wounded, die in sin, and be lost eternally ! 

Hence the author of the Short Sermons devotes a Sixth 
Part to the consideration of Sin in general, and of the Seven 
Deadly Sins in particular. This Part contains twelve Ser- 
mons, and these complete the work. 



Xiy INTRODUCTION. 

We are quite sure that the traDslation will present, sub- 
stantially at least, these great elements of the original work. 
That it will reflect all its excellencies of style and manner, all 
its simplicity and holy unction ; — would be more than it would 
be reasonable to expect from any translation. Great care has 
been taken to make it as perfect as possible. Our own con- 
stant engagements have necessarily prevented us from attend- 
ing to all the details ; but we have relied on others whom we 
deem at least equally competent to superintend the publica- 
tion ; and we therefore cordially recommend the work to the 
patronage of the public. 

The Short Sermons will be found valuable, not merely to the 
priest who wishes to instruct others, but also to the people 
who are to be instructed, in the ways of salvation. They will 
form an excellent and most useful book for the family. Those 
who may not be able to assist at the Holy Sacrifice on every 
Sunday and Ilolyday of the year may usefully read one or two 
of these Sermons, either privately for their own profit, or in 
the family for the instruction of all under their charge. 

Every priest and every Catholic family in the Union should 
possess a copy of a work so very valuable in itself, and so 
strongly recommended by the highest ecclesiastical authorities 
in Europe. 



SHORT SERMONS 
PAET I. 



SERMON I. 

THE TEACHINGS OF RELIGION. 



"Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, * # * teaching them to observe all 
things, whatsoever I have commanded you." — St. Matthew, xxviii : 19, 20. 

Whex the Apostles had received the Holy Ghost, they were 
mindful of the command which our divine Saviour had given them, 
and, dividing the world among themselves, went forth, publish- 
ing everywhere, the glad tidings of the Gospel — the heavenly 
doctrine of Jesus Christ, which is the only true doctrine, because 
it alone came from God. This sacred deposit of truth, which the 
Son of God revealed to men, has been intrusted to the care of His 
Church, which communicates it to all nations. It is this holy 
Church that sends me among you, to instruct you in the science 
of God. I know your faith, your piety, your great desire to please 
God in all things, and I am sure that you love the word of God, 
and that you will come to hear it with attention and alacrity. 

But, my Saviour! In vain do I plant, in vain do I water; 
the land which Thou requirest me to cultivate, will remain 1/arren, 
unless Thou, Sun of Justice, dei^n to warm it witli 'i'iiv rays. 



16 SHORT SERMONS. 

and bedew it with the showers of Thy heavenly grace. Open 
then, Lord ! the hearts of my hearers, that they may thoroughly 
understand the advantages which Thy adorable Religion procures 
for them. This is the special grace I implore of Thee, through 
the intercession of thine own most blessed Mother. 

Religion flashes her divine light upon our eyes, illumines our 
judgment, and leads our reason with a sure and steady step along 
the road of truth. Whence am I come into this world ? For what 
end was life given to me ? And what is my destiny ? I see men, 
like myself; are we brethren? "What are the duties we owe to 
each other ? What is God ? Are we the creatures of His hands ? 
And does He watch over us ? What are the duties we owe Him ? 
What is the homage we should offer Him, and what worship should 
we render to Him ? These, my Brethren, are questions of the greatest 
importance, and they should be answered plainly, solidly, and 
truly. But do not expect an answer to these Cjuestions from unaided 
reason. It can give none. This is clearly proved by the fact, that 
the pagan philosophers of antiquity, otherwise learned and enlight- 
ened, plunged into the most deplorable absurdities ; and that the 
proud and conceited minds of our own age, refusing to admit divine 
revelation as a guide in their search after truth, have fallen into 
errors no less monstrous and absurd. Ask, my Brethren, your own 
reason and your own understanding, and what answer do you 
receive? None. The suitable answer can be found only in the 
teachings of the Religion established by the Son of God. Let us, 
then, give thanks to our Saviour ; He is the Sun of Justice and of 
Truth, that hath shone upon the world, and dispelled the darkness 
of error and superstition. Yes, my God ! it is Thy grace alone 
that makes us saints as well as sages. Thou alone canst inform us 
of our origin, what is our vocation, what are our duties to Thee, to 
others, to ourselves, and what is the high destiny that awaits us in 
eternity. My Brethren, if you love wisdom, if you cherish truth, 
listen to the teaching of the divine Religion of our Saviour, which 
is truth itself, without admixture of error ; it is the source of light 
to the mind, the inexhaustible treasure of peace and consolation to 
the conscience. 

I have duties to discharge toward my God, toward my neighbor. 
If I enter into myself and listen to the voice of conscience, I am 



THE TEACHINGS OF RELIGION. 17 

constrained to admit that I have not heen invariahly faithful to the 
holy law of the Lord ; that I have very often sinned. God is holy, 
God is just ; He must therefore hate sin, — he must punish it. Is it 
possible for me to merit pardon from God ? Is it possible for me 
to be re instated in his favor and friendship ? What must I do ? 
Ah ! if on this point we are in doubt, can our hearts be at rest ? 
No. Yet, in vain do I ask my reason, and take counsel with my 
intellect; they are powerless to give me an answer sufficient to dis- 
pel my disquiet and to calm my justly alarmed conscience. Ah ! 
well may I tremble ; for at any moment, death may summon me 
before the tribunal of the Sovereign Judge. But thanks to Thee, 
Jesus ! Thou hast proclaimed to me the hideousness, the enormity, 
and the danger of sin; but Thou hast also announced the great 
mercy and bounty of our heavenly Father, who will never reject 
the humble and contrite of heart. Yes, sin shuts heaven against 
us, opens a hell under our feet, where the wicked shall be forever 
punished. But blessed be Thou, Son of God ! who didst come 
among us and burden Thyself with our iniquities, which Thou didst 
expiate by Thy death on the cross. Blessed be Thou, Saviour 
of the world, for having left in the bosom of Thy Church a treasure 
of grace and mercy arising from Thy own divine merits, — the pre- 
cious sacrament of penance. The sinner humbles himself, con- 
fesses his crime, makes a resolution of amendment, and Jesus says 
to him, by the mouth of his priest: *'Thy sins are forgiven thee, 
go in peace," and peace and innocence reenter the heart of the poor 
sinner. 

When you witness the disorders which prevail in the world, you 
are troubled and confused, you murmur and complain at the unequal 
distribution of riches and enjoyments, of good and evil in this life. 
But listen to the teachings of Religion ; it is in this school you will 
learn to confide in divine Providence, and in the love of your heavenly 
Father, whose ways and designs are as far above the thoughts and 
designs of men, as heaven is above the earth. It is in the school 
of Religion, and here only, that we can learn to a certainty, the 
wisdom of God, who rules, disposes, regulates, and penetrates all 
things, from one extremity of the universe to the other, with an 
infinite power, with admirable sweetness, with an unbounded love 
for our greater good, and especially for our eternal salvation. Receive, 
2 



18 SHORTSERMONS. 

therefore, with all humility and submission, the lessons which Religion 
teaches us, and your discontents will cease, your murmurs will sub- 
side, peace and happiness will be restored to you, and in your pains 
and sorrows, you shall be favored with many heavenly consolations. 
And who is the man that does not stand in need of consolation ? 
Who is the man that has not to travel the road of affliction ? Ah ! 
how numerous, how various are our sufferings and our crosses? 
Who can enumerate the pains, both inward and outward, the afflic- 
tions of the body, the tribulations of the soul, and all the troubles 
which press so heavily upon mankind ? Groaning under the weight 
of sorrows, who will come to apply to us the balm of consolation ? 
You tell me to have courage ; but where shall we obtain this courage 
so necessary to support us ? Yes, you would come to inspire me 
with courage and give me strength, but you are unable. Religion 
is our only true comforter, the only source of consolation and of true 
courage. Religion tells me : Sufferings come from God ; He chas- 
tises you, because He loves you, that you may expiate your sins, 
and that you may be rich in merits before you receive the rewards 
of heaven. Ah ! if you knew the great value of the cross and of 
sufferings, you would be prepared to say with St. Augustine: "I 
weigh well what I suffer along with what I hope for, and I find the 
weight of my sufferings infinitely lighter than the weight of glory 
which my afflictions will procure for me. Here below we drink but 
a little drop of the bitter waters of tribulation ; but in heaven we 
shall be overwhelmed with the overflowing fountain of unspeakable 
delights." Thus it is that the adorable Religion of Jesus Christ 
pours into the suffering and afflicted heart the balm of consolation, 
fills us with a holy hope, and points us to heaven as the reward of 
our patience. 

Life is like a flower, which in the morning blooms, and in the 
evening fades. Every day, death strikes at us on every side, and it 
may at any moment arrest us in the midst of our career. Yery 
soon I shall descend to the tomb ; but am I nothing more than dust 
and ashes ? Is my soul as well as my body subject to death ? If 
my soul survives, whither shall it go, and what shall become of it ? 
The prince of philosophers has said with despair: "I do not know 
what will take place after death." But, my Brethren, the Son of 
God came down from heaven to reveal our future. No, no, the 



• THE TEACHINGS OF RELIGION. 19 

existence of man is not confined to the limits of this short life. 
Do you believe that the only being of creation whom God has 
endowed with superior faculties, the only one who stands erect 
and looks toward heaven, shall be nothing but dust and putrefac- 
tion ! You have a soul Avhich is immortal, and which has nothing 
to fear from the corruption of the grave ; it came from God, and to 
God it must return. The darkness which surrounds us in death 
shall not be eternal, you shall rise full of life. Happy shall you be 
if j^ou are not attached to the vanities of the world; if you are 
faithful to God and to His holy Religion, if you live as true Chris- 
tians ; for then you shall inhabit the place where our divine Chief 
dwells, you shall participate in the glory of God, in the happiness 
of His elect. How consoling a hope ! And this hope is laid up 
in my heart ! 0, how I love and bless thee and the good things 
thou containest, 0, adorable Religion of my Saviour ! It is this 
Religion, built upon the word of God, which makes known to us 
the goodness of our heavenly Father, our own dignity and great- 
ness, and the felicity that awaits us in heaven. 

My Brethren, the teachings of the Religion of Jesus Christ, im- 
parts truth to our minds, gives a calm peace to the repenting sinner, 
reveals the future, and fills us with hope. In order to learn this 
wholesome doctrine, the people crowded with eagerness around our 
divine Saviour. These are the same precepts, which our Lord 
charges me to teach you. I shall acquit myself of my holy mission 
with all the zeal of which I am capable, and I shall do so with 
pleasure and success ; for you too are eager to learn the word of 
God. May the kingdom of truth be established in your hearts and 
minds, may you know God and His divine Son, your duties and 
your destiny ; may you know the way which will conduct you to 
the practice of virtue, to wisdom, to perfection, to heaven. My 
God ! bless my efforts. Let Thy grace accompany my words, or 
rather place upon my lips the words which will best make Thee 
known, loved and served, by every one whom Thou desirest that I 
should lead into the way of Thy adorable truth and commandments, 
that they may be found worthy of the infinite reward which Thou 
dost reserve for us in in a blessed eternity. — Amen. 



20 SHORT SERMONS. 



SERMON II 
ON FAITH. 



" But as many as received him, to them he gave power to be made the sons of 
God, to them that believed in his name." — St. John, iv ; 12. 

The time of this our present life, is granted to lis, in order that we 
may know, love, and serve the Lord our God. If we employ, in 
this lioly exercise, the few days wMch we have to spend in this 
world, we shall most certainly merit and obtain an immortal life 
in the mansions of our heavenly Father. But those only know, 
love, and serve the Lord, who believe in the name of Jesus, the Son 
of God made man, follow His doctrine, do what He commands, and 
hope for what He promises. How important, then, it is for you to 
know this sahitary doctrine, this divine religion, the practice of 
which, enlivened and sanctified by the love of God, leads to celes- 
tial happiness. But Faith is the light, without which, as St. Paul 
teaches us, we can neither discover, invoke, nor serve our God. I 
shall, therefore, commence the course of instructions on Christian 
doctrine, which I propose giving you, by treating of Faith in 
general ; and afterward, I shall explain the principal truths which 
the Saviour has revealed to the world, and which are contained in 
the Apostles' Creed. 

What is Faith? Faith is a gift of God, and a supernatural 
virtue, by which we firmly believe in God and all the truths which 
the Church teaches, because God, who has revealed them, is truth 
itself. It is important, my Brethren, that you thoroughly understand 
the definition of Faith. I therefore proceed to explain all its terms 
and words : 

In the first place, I say, Faith is a gift of God, and a supernatural 
virtue: that is to sav. Faith comes not from ourselves, it is not our 



ON FAITH. 21 

own production ; we can never have it in our hearts, except through 
an effect of God's goodness and liberality. It is a supernatural 
virtue ; we can not acquire it by our natural powers alone, it can 
come only from heaven. In fact, says the Apostle, "it is by grace 
you are saved through Faith, and this not of yourselves, for it is 
the gift of God; not of works, that no man may glory."* Faith 
comes from God, and without Faith we can not be saved. No, the 
Holy Ghost says, ''without Faith it is impossible to please God." 
The wrath of God falls with all its weight upon the children of 
incredulity. These words are but the development of what Christ 
himself teaches us, when He says, ''whosoever will not believe, 
shall be condemned;" he is already judged, he is criminal, his infi- 
delity itself is his condemnation, — he is dead before God. 
how happy are you, my Brethren ; you who have received the 
Faith, this precious gift of God ! It is a grace which the Lord has 
not granted to so many other nations, to whom he has not "made 
known his wonders. "f 

You have Faith ; God has given it to you ; but to what are you 
indebted for this privilege, this power of pleasing God? What 
have you done to render yourselves worthy of it? Did your works 
obtain this favor for you ? Or rather is not Faith the principle of 
all your meritorious works ? You are indebted for this precious 
gift to the goodness and favor of God. You can never be suffi- 
ciently thankful to the Creator, to Jesus, the Son of God, "for no 
man can go to the Father except through the Son." In fact, the very 
day on which you became Christians, and received the gift of Faith 
at the baptismal font, there were millions of children born through- 
out the whole extent of the earth, who had not the same happiness 
you had ; *they were born in barbarous and idolatrous countries, in 
nations where the knowledge of the true God is shrouded in the 
darkness of the most monstrous errors. Many are dead and they 
shall never see God ; others, blinde^d by superstition and vice, hurry 
on to their eternal perdition. Why were you not born in these 
countries ? Why did you not die in your mother's womb ? Why 
have you been preferred to so many others? "Virgin of Israel," 
saith the Lord, " I have loved thee with an eternal love ; behold the 

* Ephesians, ii : 3. f Psalm cxlvii. 



22 S II O K T 8 E K M O N S . 

reason why, taking pity on thj misery, I have raised thee up even 
nnto myself." See Christians; even before you had power to 
think of Him, God loved you; this is the reason why ''he has 
snatched you fi'om the powers of darkness, that he might receive 
you into the empire of Jesus Christ, His well beloved Son, by 
whose blood you have been redeemed." Bless and glorify the hand 
which has heaped upon you so many favors ; return thanks to God 
for His goodness, who has so tenderly loved you, adore His word, 
and believe in Him, but believe ^rmZy. 

In the second place, I say that Faith is a gift of God, and a 
supernatural virtue, by which we believe ^rm^y. When a Catholic 
says : " I believe ;" it is as if he said, " I am sure there is nothing 
but truth in every thing which the Church of Jesus Christ proposes 
to my belief, and I believe the word of God more firmly than I 
would believe the testimony of my own eyes, and the judgment of 
my own reason. It is God who speaks and reveals the truth which 
is in Him from all eternity. Can I refuse to hear my God ? No ; 
I make my understanding captive unto the obedience of Faith, and 
my will unto the yoke of the law. " This word comes from God ; "* 
it must be believed; I bow down before God with a willing heart; 
His truth conquers me ; doubt is driven from my mind ; retreating 
before the certainty which God himself establishes in my soul. 
Yes, Christians, we must believe firmly, for it is in God we believe ; 
in God, who is supreme wisdom, infinite goodness, truth itself; who 
can neither be deceived nor wish to deceive us, and who, whilst 
conducting us by the hand of His infallible Church, will never per- 
mit us to fall into error and illusion. 

In the third place, I say by Faith we believe in God ''and all the 
truths which the Church teaches ; because God, who has revealed 
them, is truth itself." God expressly commands that we should believe 
all the dogmas and all the truths which he has revealed, and which 
the Church proposes to our Faith. He wishes and requires that we 
should believe with equal confidence every word He has spoken. 
For, he who refuses to believe even one single article of religion, 
no longer possesses the precious gift of Faith. What! Could God 
permit man to receive only some of His truths, and leave him free 

* Genesis, xxiv. 



O N F A I T H . 23 

to despise and reject others with scorn ? No, the man that presumes 
to exercise a liberty so injurious to God, ceases to believe the word 
of God, the eternal truth ; he has no Faith, he follows his own 
opinion, and not the doctrine of God ; he grounds himself no lon- 
ger on the veracity of God, on the infallible evidence of His Church, 
but on the fallible testimony of his own judgment. He wishes to 
make God an impostor ; he has no real Faith ; the light of God no 
longer sheds its enlivening rays upon his mind. 

But, my Brethren, let us not deceive ourselves ; there are degrees 
of Faith. It may be more or less fervent, more or less strong, 
without ceasing to be the Faith that comes from God — the true 
Faith. The Faith of that father mentioned in the Gospel, who 
exclaimed, — **I do believe, Lord, help my unbelief," was weak, 
though true, and pleasing to God. Such also was the Faith of the 
disciples, when they said to their divine Master, "increase our 
Faith." Faith is a virtue, and, like all other virtues, it must be 
proved by trials in the heart of man. Hence, we can not but know 
that our minds will be frequently tormented by involuntary doubts, 
which come in despite of us, and render us a prey to violent agita- 
tions, by which our soul is oppressed and afflicted. The greatest 
saints have not always been exempt from these trials. Like them, 
let us courageously resist all such temptations which test, but do 
not lessen our Faith. Coming out of the contest victorious, we 
shall be dearer to the heart of God. Above all, my Brethren, let 
us guard and watch diligently over this precious gift of Faith which 
God has granted us, and let us never permit any willful doubt to 
enter our minds ; for by willfully doubting the truths of Faith, we 
call in question the veracity of God himself. To consent to doubts 
and entertain them in our hearts, would effectually expose our Faith 
to that sad shipwreck of which the Apostle speaks — a misfortune 
that would plunge us into, the abyss of eternal death. 

It is necessary to believe every thing that God and his Church 
propose to our belief, whether they are the doctrines found in the 
sacred books, or the truths which holy tradition has handed down 
to us. The Sacred Scriptures are the word of God, and they con- 
tain nothing but what is true ; but they do not embrace all revealed 
truth. The Sacred Scriptures themselves say that there are many 
things which om* Saviour and Apostles said and did which were not 



24 SHORT SERMONS. 

written. Yet not one iota of these truths coming from the mouth 
of God is lost, or ever shall he lost. No, God has not permitted 
it ; on the contrary, he willed that all these words and truths should 
pass from mouth to mouth, and should be preserved in the bosom 
of his Church. These dogmas are all equally true, all equally the 
word of God, and when the Church of Jesus Christ proposes 
them to us, we ought to believe them firmly, without hesitating, 
without doubting, if we desire to keep the Faith which pleases God, 
and the Faith which comes from God. 

God grant, my Brethren, that the instruction which you have just 
heard may be deeply engraven upon your memory ; may you never 
forget that which, as Catholics, you are bound to believe in heart 
and soul ; may you never lose sight of the obligations you are under 
to God, for the great benefit of your vocation to the true Faith, for 
the preference which He has shown you in distinguishing you from 
so many others, who live and die in the darkness of error. O 
yes, praise the Lord all the days of your life ; let your hearts and 
tongues extol and glorify continually the goodness of the heavenly 
Father, who has bestowed this precious gift of Faith on you, who 
did nothing and could do nothing to merit such a divine favor. To 
know God ; the adorable mysteries of His Son made man, the riches 
of the glory He prepares for us, this is the science of the Christian, — 
the science which Faith teaches. Without this heavenly science 
we should be buried in misery and darkness, the melancholy sport 
of uncertain opinions and deceitful fancies which the spirit of man 
conjures up. 

May God preserve us from falling away from this divine, adorable 
Faith. It is in this Faith, my God, that I wish to live and 
die ; for it is only through it I can learn to do thy will. May Thy 
Grace, Lord, be always with me, that I may never cease to fulfill 
what Thy holy religion commands ; so that I may be one day admitted 
to the happiness of seeing Thee, face to face, such as Thou art in Thy 
eternal mansions, where Thou wilt fully recompense those who have 
known Thee, loved Thee, and served Thee in this world ! — Amen. 



E X I S T E N C K O F G O D . 25 



SERMON III. 

FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED. 

EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth." — 
Apostles' Creed. 

It is necessary to believe every thing that God has said and 
revealed to the world, all the truths which the Lord has intrusted 
to the guardianship of his Church ; for without faith it is impossible 
to please God ; without faith no one can be saved. How ardently, 
then, beloved Christians, do I desire that you would know well the 
truths which are the object of your faith. You find them, for the 
most part, contained in the Apostles' Creed, which is composed of 
twelve articles, the first of which is thus expressed: "I believe in 
God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth." There 
are so many things contained in these few words, that I can not 
treat all of them in one instruction. I will, therefore, confine 
myself to-day to the explanation of these words: "I believe in 
God;" that is to say, my Brethren, what I wish to impress upon 
your minds, is, that there is a God, that there is but one God ; and 
what that one God is : 

There is a God : this is the first truth which we profess to believe 
when we recite the Creed, a truth which is the foundation of all the 
other truths of religion, and of salvation ; a truth which nature as 
well as religion alike inculcate ; a truth better known than all others, 
and which is as clear to our eyes as the light of day. Hence, we 
always regard as monsters, rather than men, that small number of 
wretches who arrive at such a hight of impiety that they dare deny 
or even doubt that there is a God. If they have the hardihood to 
say so, "it is only in their heart," saith the prophet. Indeed, the 
Corruption of their hearts makes them desire that there were no 



36 SHOETSEKMONS. 

God, that they may with greater ease and freedom ahandon them- 
selves to the disorders of their passions ; but their intellect never 
admits such an absurdity, and always convicts them of their lying 
blasphemies. ' 

In fact, my Brethren, to convince us of the Existence of a God, 
it is not necessary that we should enter into tedious researches, and 
have recourse to laborious studies ; it suffices to contemplate our- 
selves attentively, to cast a glance over this vast earth, on the 
millions of creatures that inhabit the world. Yes, says Isaias, 
"Lift up your eyes on high; consider who has created the heavens, 
who caused the army of stars to move in such beautiful order, and 
who calls them by their names." Who, then, has fixed this earth 
upon its foundation ? Who has constructed the spacious firmament 
on high, — that wonderful ceiling dotted all over with stars, as so 
many precious stones? Did man give existence to himself? Did 
the sun and moon fix themselves in the firmament ? "Do you know 
who is the Father of the rain, or who begot the drops of dew?* 
Ah ! the world is a great book, which speaks to us only of God ; 
the voice of the Supreme Being resounds from one end of the uni- 
verse to the other, and says : "I am the Lord ; that make all things ; 
that alone stretch out the heavens ; that establish the earth ; and 
there is none with me."f 

It is God, who has made every thing, and nothing was made 
without Him. Every man who does not recognize Thee, and who 
presumes to deny Thy existence, 0, my God, is blind, is an 
ungrateful wretch, is a monster without eyes, without ears, without 
intellect, and without heart. Yes, if he has eyes let him open them, 
and everywhere he will see evidences of Thy wisdom, 0, my God, 
and the wonders of Thy Omnipotence ! If he has ears to hear, 
why does he close them against the voice of every creature that 
proclaims the greatness of its Creator? Has he received from 
heaven the gift of intelligence ; he, who, more stupid than beasts, 
disowns Him to whom he is indebted for every thing ? And where, 
then, is his heart, since he is insensible to the ineffable bounty for all 
the blessings which he constantly receives from this adorable Provi- 
dence, that confers them on him ? 

* Job, xxxviii. t Isaias, xliv. 



EXISTENCEOFGOD. 27 

Yes, my Brethren, there is a God, there is but one God, and 
there can be no more gods than one. In truth, God is the Being 
above all beings ; the Infinite Being ; the perfect Being. That per- 
fection can not be divided; infinity appertains to but one Being 
alone. Were there many infinitely perfect beings, none of them 
would possess perfection, since they would all be equal ; none of them 
Avould be superior to the others, none would be Sovereign Master; 
and we can with reason say, if there were many gods, there would 
be none, for a plurality of gods were an idle fancy, a thing that exists 
not. Says the prophet of God: "Hear, Israel, the Lord, our 
God, is the only Lord. I am, says he, the first and the last, there 
is no God besides me."* 

There is but one God. You must not however imagine, my 
Brethren, that the unity of God is opposed to the adorable mysteiy 
of the Most Holy Trinity. It is true, faith teaches us to acknowl- 
edge and adore three Persons in the Most Blessed Trinity, three 
Persons in one God ; yet, there is in this no contradiction. Indeed, 
we do not say, there are three Gods in one God ; but there are three 
Persons, who constitute but one God. In the Most Blessed Trinity 
there are not three divine natures, but only one and the same divine 
nature for the three divine Persons. Yes, my Brethren, always 
bear in mind, that the three divine Persons of the Most Blessed 
Trinity have but one and the same divine nature, and are but one 
and the same God. I know that this is one of those truths which 
reason of itself cannot comprehend, experience teach, nor the senses 
assist us to discover ; it is a mystery the depth of which, it belongs 
to God alone to fathom. "No one knoweth the Son, but the 
Father, neither doth any one know the Father, but the Son, and he 
to whom the Son will reveal him.f But what ought to set our 
minds at rest, and free us from all uneasiness, is, that God himself 
has revealed this august mystery, and His divine word is our guar- 
anty for this profound truth. He has said: "There are three in 
heaven who give testimony, — the Father, the Woixi, and the Holy 
Ghost, — and these three are one.| 

But what is God? The day will come when, in heaven, we shall 
know God and see His infinite perfections in the clearest light. In 

• Isaias, xl and xliv. f St. Matthew, xi: 27. $ St. John, v : 7. 



28 - SHORT SEEMONS. 

this life we behold Him only through a glass and in shadows. Yet, 
however imperfect our knowledge may be, faith and reason throw 
sufficient light around us, to demonstrate to us that God is a Spirit 
infinite in all His attributes ; that He is self-existent, and that He 
is from eternity. God is infinite, therefore He wants nothing ; and 
there is in Him not even the smallest defect, nor the slightest im- 
perfection. He is perfect ; there is in Him neither sleep, nor hun- 
ger, nor thirst, nor anger, nor sadness, nor suffering, nor death; 
none of these imperfections are to be found in the infinitely perfect 
nature of God. 

GoS is from all eternity; He was not created by himself; neither 
could He have been created by another. If God created himself. 
He must have existed before He created himself, which is a palpa- 
ble absurdity. If God was created by another, tell me by whom 
this other was himself created ? How, then, does God exist ? The 
Almighty himself informs us, when He says to Moses: **IAm 
WHO Am" — that is to say, I am the necessary, infinite, eternal Being, 
the Source, the beginning of all other beings ; Life, and even Exist- 
ence itself. 

God is a being perfectly simple ; He is a perfect Spirit ; He has 
neither body, nor figm^e, nor form. He does not come under our 
senses ; He can neither be seen, nor touched. If the picture of God 
the Father represents Him under the form of an old man, it is to 
give us an idea of His adorable antiquity, and because He showed 
himself in this form to the prophet Daniel. If the Sacred Scrip- 
tures speaks to us of the eyes, the feet, and the hands of God, it 
uses such language only to accommodate itself to our weakness. 
These are no more than figures which serve to make us understand 
the perfections and attributes of God. By His eyes is signified 
that He sees all things ; by His hands that He made all things ; by 
His arms is understood His supreme power ; and we express as far 
as possible His dignity, by placing all creatures at His feet. 

But at the same time, the word of God warns us not to conceive 
a false idea of God, by supposing Him to have a human form, 
giving Him a human body and senses, or by believing that He is, 
as it were, confined within the vast and magnificent palace of this 
world. God is a Spirit ; and therefore He desires to be adored in 
spirit and in truth. He wishes that our minds should be constantly 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 29 

raised toward Him, and that our hearts should be penetrated with 
His love, when we contemplate and meditate upon His infinite per- 
fections. He wishes that, like generous children, we should have 
for Him the deepest respect and the most perfect submission to His 
ever adorable will. He wishes that, by a faithful discharge of all 
the duties of our state, we may merit His favor and His love. 

There is a God : He is perfect, He is infinite. my soul, 
bless the Lord, and may all that is within me praise His holy 
name ! Yes, Lord, I am the work of Thy hands, and my soul 
and my body shall never cease to publish Thy greatness and Thy 
goodness. Alas ! can it be possible that there are men who refuse 
to recognize Him, by whose omnipotence they were called into exist- 
ence ! Can it be, that there are others who, though acknowledging 
that there is a God, yet live as if they knew Him not ; do not love 
Him, nor serve Him, nor wish to do any thing to please Him. 

Let us not, my God ! be amongst the number of those ungrate- 
ful wretches ; on the contrary, let us bless Thee all the days of our 
lives ; let us praise and glorify Thee on earth, which is Thy foot- 
stool ; that we may merit the happiness of being one day admitted 
to praise, and bless, and love Thee forever in Heaven, where Thou 
hast established the ** Throne of Thy Glory." — Amen. 



30 SHORT SERMONS. 



SERMOJ( IV. 

FIEST ARTICLE OF THE CREED— (conthtoed.) 

OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD. 



"I believe in God, the Father Almighty." — Apostles' Ceeed. 

There is a God, there can be but one, He is self-existent. He exists 
from all eternity, He is tlie principle and author of all things in 
heaven and on earth. God is a Spirit infinitely pui-e, has neither 
body nor figure, and he possesses every perfection in an infinite de- 
gree. Behold, my Brethren, what formed the subject of our last 
instruction. I most ardently desire that you would every day make 
some progress in the knowledge of the Lord our God, for the more 
you know Him, the more will you love Him, and the better will 
you serve Him. It is for this reason that I now proceed to explain 
some of the infinite and unspeakable perfections of our Creator. 
To-day I will speak to you of His Omnipotence, and I will show 
you how useful it is often times to meditate on this wonderful per- 
fection. 

God is Omnipotent, that is to say, He can, in one single instant 
and without labor, do whatsoever he pleases. This is a truth which 
faith does not permit us to doubt, and of which we can not help 
being thoroughly convinced, when we survey the vast and magnifi- 
cent expanse of creation, and contemplate the harmonious order 
which reigns throughout all nature. 

Who indeed among you can measure, with his sight, the im- 
mense extent of the canopy of heaven ; can consider the beauty of 
the sun, and of the millions of stars which adorn the firmament ; 
can fix his attention on the numberless beautiful animals, so varied 
in their different kinds and species, which move on the earth, fly in 
the air, or swim in the waters ; can even for an instant fix his atten- 



OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD. 31 

tioii on the ftst.onisliing variety of trees, of flowers, and of fruits 
which cover and embellish the surface of the earth ; which of you, 
I say, can behold this magnificent spectacle without feeling himself 
constantly impelled to exclaim, Oh ! boundless grandeur ! Oh ! infi- 
nite Omnipotence of my God ! Yes, the Lord our God is all-powerful. 
Tlie Sacred Scriptures, which the Holy Spirit dictated to man, not 
only teach us that it is the hand of God which fashioned all we see, — 
every thing that exists, — all the wonders which challenge our admi- 
ration, but even that it has created them all, has made them all out 
of nothing. 

The human mind is no doubt, occasionally, capable of great 
things. Well ; now collect from the four quarters of the globe the 
ablest minds, men endowed with the highest degree of intelligence ; 
and certainly many such might be found. Then, when you have 
them all assembled, ask them to unite their efforts and work together, 
but without materials, without tools ; by the sole power of their 
minds and wills, and what will they produce ? A world ? No ; 
not even a grain of wheat, not the smallest atom of straw. What ? 
Do you think they could construct a new canopy for the heavens ? 
No, not even a hut. They w^ould labor for millions of years, and 
for millions of ages, and yet never produce one. The power of the 
Creator, is then infinite, for it needed not matter and instruments 
to construct this beautiful world. Without trouble and without 
labor He has created heaven and earth ; God wills, He spoke, and 
the universe sprang from the abyss of nothingness. ** I am the 
Lord," He says, "that made all things, that alone stretch out the 
heavens, that establish the earth, and there is none with me.* Yes, 
my Brethren, to execute the decrees of His wisdom, to realize the 
eternal plans of His infinite intelligence, God requires neither mat- 
ter, nor instruments, nor aid, nor help from any one. He speaks, 
and on the instant millions of creatures spring into life ; He has 
but to will it, and that very instant they would fall back into the 
nothingness from which His voice had called them. He created all 
things with equal ease, and it costs Him no more to produce a world 
than to form the smallest seed, — the tiniest insect. Without trouble 
and without labor, He has created the heavens and the earth ; without 

* Isaias, xliv : 24. 



32 S n O R T S E E M O N S . 

trouble and without labor, He preserves the existence He bas given 
them, and maintains the wonderful order in which He has estab- 
lished them ; without trouble and without labor, His hand peopled 
the world with an immense variety of sentient, animated beings ; a 
word was sufficient for Him. By a single word, all these animated 
beings are multiplied and perpetuated on the earth. Another word 
issues from His divine mouth, and, faithful to the command of the 
Creator, the sun advances, shining in the heavens, the moon begins 
to shed her mild effulgence, and the stars bedeck the firmament ; a 
word, and not one of these stars ever forget the command, but will 
please God ; they will continue to move in the path which His divine 
hand has marked out for them. 

It is therefore true that God is Omnipotent, — His power is infi- 
nite, — knowing no limits ; He can do whatsoever he wills ! 

God is Omnipotent ! ! how consoling a truth for the suffer- 
ing, afflicted, disconsolate heart of man ! God, he can say, is all- 
powerful. He can do whatsoever He wills, and nothing is able to 
resist the strength of His arm ; it is then true that He can cure me of 
all my ills ; if I am sick. He can heal me ; He can extricate me from 
the miseries and oppressive sorrows beneath which I groan ; He 
can protect me against the repeated assaults of my enemies ; He 
can assist me with His power, and cast around me the shield of His 
divine protection in the daily contest which I have to wage against 
the world, the devil, and the flesh ; He can, in fine, give me the 
victory and confirm me in the pathway of virtue- and of piety. But 
where are the proofs of this consoling truth? Open the Sacred 
Scriptures, and they are full of striking examples more than suffi- 
cient to banish every doubt from your minds. Who was it that 
rescued Joseph from the dreary and shameful prison, wherein he had 
so long groaned ? Who broke asunder his fetters and elevated him 
to the position of chief minister to the powerful king of Egypt ? 
It was God. Every kind of misfortune was heaped on the head of 
Job ; deprived of his children and his wealth, plunged into the most 
frightful desolation, his body covered all over with a loathsome, con- 
suming disease. Who came to the assistance of this holy man, and 
restored him to health and to redoubled prosperity ? It was God. 
An impious king usurps the rights of God, and, in his folly, com- 
mands the people to adore hira. Three young men refuse to bend 



O M N I P O T E N C E O F G O D . 33 

the knee before his statue, and they are cast into a burning furnace ; 
but behold, they walk uninjured in the midst of the devouring 
flames. Who was it that thus miraculously preserved their lives 
and deprived the fire of its power to harm them ? It was God, — 
the Omnipotent God. Famine spreads desolation over the land 
of Israel. The prophet Eliseus, flying from the enemies of the 
Lord, retires into the desert, there to die of hunger. But he dies 
not ; for behold, the Lord commands the birds of the air to provide for 
His servant, and every day tl^ey carry to him food to support his life. 
Two infamous old men drag the chaste Susannah before the judges 
of Israel, and accuse her of crime. Sentence of death is pronounced 
against her; but Susannah dies not ; for the Lord, the God of justice, 
enlightens the mind of the youthful Daniel ; the innocence of the 
chaste virgin is recognized, and the sentence which threatened her 
life falls on the heads of her guilty accusers. 

Behold what the Lord has accomplished, and the wonders wrought 
by Him, to whom nothing is impossible, and who can do whatso- 
ever He willeth. 

God is all-powerful ! But if this truth -abounds in consolation 
for the righteous and the just, it is no less terrible and afflicting to 
the wicked and impenitent sinner. For if God can do whatsoever 
He wills, if all things are possible to Him, He can punish the 
wicked in a terrible manner ; if He spare him, it is only because 
His mercy stays the arm of His justice. And what reason has not 
the sinner to tremble ? God beholds him advancing in the paths of 
iniquity. He sees him filling up the measure of his guilt, and to- 
morrow, perhaps. He will call him before His awful tribunal, to 
condemn him to everlasting punishment. 

Yes, sinners, God can and He has punished sin, and continues to 
do so every day. Do you doubt it? The Sacred Scriptures will 
inform you how severely God has often dealt with the sinner. Na- 
dab and Abiu, the sons of Aaron, contrary to the express prohibition 
of God, dared to set profane fire on the altar, and burn their incense 
upon it. God condemns them, and that very instant flames issue 
from the earth and destroy them. Forty-two youths follow and 
mock the prophet Eliseus, and at the command of God two bears 
from the depths of the forest rush on these forty-two wicked young 
men, and devour them. Heliodorus, jjossessed of all the power of 



34 SHORTSEEMONS. 

an earthly monarcli, enters the temple of Jerusalem, to rob it of its 
treasure and desecrate the holy places of God; but the King of 
heaven gives the word, and immediately two angels appear, and 
strike Heliodorus so severely that he is carried away half dead. 

You see, my Brethren, how true it is that the Omnipotent hand 
of God can punish us even at the very moment we are abandoning 
ourselves to sin. Let us, therefore, be wise and prudent, and when 
temptation presents itself to draw us from the path of rectitude, let 
us raise our thoughts to heaven and call to mind the Omnipotent 
power of God, who can, the very instant we consent to the sin, 
most terribly punish us for all eternity. Beyond doubt, this recollec- 
tion of the judgment of an Omnipotent God will make us fear and 
avoid committing the sin. 

And when misfortune visits our home, when sorrow enters our 
hearts, and affliction presses heavily upon us, Oh ! let us not be 
discouraged, but let us remember that God is Omnipotent; that He 
can aid us, comfort us, and restore to our hearts and our homes the 
peace and the happiness we had lost. May this salutary thought 
never depart from our hearts ; so shall we be more patient, more re- 
signed, and more submissive to the holy will of God ; who tries us, it 
is true, but only with the view that when we shall have passed 
through this vale of tears, having borne our cross with patience in 
this life, we may at length arrive at that celestial home, where our 
Omnipotent God recompenses beyond all conception, the patience 
and the virtues of His saints. — Amen. 



GOD IS EVERYWIIEEE, ETC 



35 



SERMON V. 

FIKST ARTICLE OF THE CEEED— (continued.) 
GOD IS EYERYWHERE; GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS. 



" I set the Lord always in my sight, for He is at my right hand, that I be not 
moved." — Psalms, xv. 

God is all-powerful. Let us, tlierefore, always fear offending the 
Lord, for the very moment we become guilty, he can punish us. 
The Holy Ghost has said it is an awful thing to fall into the hands 
of the living God. God is omnipotent ; why then should we be 
discouraged when calamities and misfortunes weigh heavily upon us ? 
No, the Christian should never give way to despair, how heavy 
soever be the cross he has to carry, how excruciating soever be the 
pains he has to endure. Let us remember that our heavenly Father 
is omnipotent, that He watches over us, and His divine word is 
pledged that they who hope in Him, will not be confounded forever. 
Yes, we ought to have confidence in the all-powerful protection of 
our God, for it was not in mockery, it was not to deceive us, that 
He invited us all to come to Him, saying: "Come to me all ye 
who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." 

The omnipotence of God, the salutary influence which the thought 
of this divine perfection should have on our conduct, such was the 
subject of our last instruction. Let us advance in the knowledge 
of the Lord, and to-day let us sj^eak of His immensity, and of His 
infinite Omniscience. 

"O Israel," exclaims a prophet, " how vast is the habitation of 
God, how great are His possessions ! He is great, He has no limits. 
He is sublime. He is immense." To make us sensible of His im- 
mensity, the Lord God has himself told us, by the mouth of His 
prophets, that He is the Most High God, that He fills the heavens 



36 SHORT SERMONS. 

and the eartii, that the heavens and the earth can not contain Him ; 
that He is higher than the heavens and deeper than the abyss ; that 
the place of His habitation is vast and boundless. David, filled 
with the spirit of God, cries out in a transport of admiration: 
** Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from 
Thy face ? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there ; if I descend 
into hell, thou art present. If I take my wings early in the morn- 
ing, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also 
shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me."* 

But these expressions, however sublime they may be, are neverthe- 
less mere human language, in which God condescends to address 
us, that He may not overwhelm our weakness ; for there is nothing 
in us nor around us which can exactly represent to us the immensity 
of God, such as it really is ; therefore, do not figure to yourselves, 
the Lord God as a great body, infinitely extended and covering the 
vast surface of the universe. No ; He existed before the world, 
which He himself has formed, and before He had created it, there 
was neither place nor space which could limit the infinite Being. 
God could have created other worlds a thousand times more vast 
than this ; and had He done so, He would still be everywhere pre- 
sent in them, as well as in our own. This world does not confine 
His infinite being ; God is not then inclosed within the limits of 
space ; but we and the entire world exist in God. We are in the 
immensity of God, like the fish in the water, or the bird in the air, 
as St. Augustine tells us, encircled as it were, by His divine Presence, 
for He fills the heavens and the earth. Go, then, where you will, 
traverse the open plain, or remain shut up in your house, perform 
your actions in the broad daylight, or bury yourselves in the thickest 
shades of darkness ; God is there ; He sees you ; nothing escapes his 
all-seeing eye, and He Himself says to you: *' What, then, are your 
thoughts ? Am I, think ye, a God at hand, and not a God afar 
off? Shall a man be hid in secret places, and I not see him."f 
Ah ! says the apostle, "there is no creature invisible to the eyes of 
God, before whom all things are laid open ; He sees all things. He 
knows all things, and His knowledge has no bounds." 

God knows not only the present, but the past and the future. 

* Psalms, cxxxviii. f Jeremias, xxiii : 23. 



ETC. 37 

He knows not only wliat is outward, what appears to the eyes, but 
what passes even in the most secret and most intimate recesses of 
our hearts ; He hears our words, He sees our actions, and reads in 
their inmost depths the secrets of our souls. He knows what are 
our thoughts, and what desires occupy our minds. Yes, says He, 
by the mouth of his prophet Ezechiel : **I know the thoughts of 
your hearts."* He knows what you will do to-day; the future is 
present to Him, and nothing is hidden from Him. He penetrated 
our hearts, He foresaw what would be our ways, and He understood 
all our words a long time before they were uttered. 

Reflect, now, my Brethren, on this ; God is Everywhere, and He 
knows all things ; to Him there is no secret, no mystery. He is 
Everywhere, He is, then, near us. He is in ns; He knows. He hears, He 
sees every thing we do, every thing we say, every thing we think. 
How great, then, must be our audacity and rashness when we dare, 
under the very eyes of God, to harbor and foster so many sinful 
thoughts, to form so many criminal desires, to ntter so many guilty 
words, and commit so many culpable actions ! Would you dare do 
this sinful and shameful act in the presence of a man whom you 
respect ? Would you dare, in his presence, give utterance to that 
blasphemous or obscene word ? Where is the servant who would 
presume, under the very eyes of his master, to violate his orders 
and do what he had forbidden ? Where is the man who would 
insult and outrage one, who, in an instant, could strike him dead ? 

And yet, my Brethren, we fear not to sully our souls with the 
guilt of the most shameful crimes in the very presence of God, who 
will not only exact from us a most rigid account of all our conduct, 
but who can even plunge us into eternal torments the very instant 
we become guilty in his sight ? Is not this conduct, on our part, 
to say the least of it, imutterably rash and inconceivably wicked ? 
In acting thus, do we not declare that we have no respect whatever 
for the divine Presence ? It is not the same as if we said we no 
longer believe that God is Everywhere, that He sees all things, 
hears all things, and knows all things? In truth, my Brethren, 
were men thoroughly convinced that God is Everywhere, that they 
can not hide themselves from His sight, they never would be seen 

* Ezechiel, xi : 5. 



38 SHORT SERMONS. 

seeking solitude and darkness to give themselves up to vice, and 
burden their souls with, the most criminal actions ; they never would 
be seen waiting with such impatience for the night, to abandon 
themselves to the most shameful disorders. Unfortunate man ! do 
you not know that the eyes of God are **more luminous than the 
sun?" You may withdraw yourself from the sight of man, but 
you can not escape the all-seeing eye of God ; wheresoever you go 
that eye is fixed upon you, — everywhere your sovereign Judge sees 
your bad actions, hears your improper conversations, sees your per- 
verse thoughts, your detestable projects; and the day will come 
when He will visit you with an awful retribution. In vain does 
the murderer, like Cain, seek to hide his crime ; in vain does the 
unjust man, like Achab, seek excuses to palliate his injustice ; in 
vain does the hypocrite, like the proud Pharisee, whilst deceiving 
men, wish to trifle with God ; in vain does the luxurious man, like 
the wretched accusers of Susanna, cast down his eyes, that they 
may not behold the heavens. Eemember, sinners, that there is a 
God who sees you, and a day will come when He will render to 
every one of you according to your works ; when they who have 
surpassed all others in crime, will likewise surpass all others in 
punishment. 

Oh ! how terrifying to the sinner is the remembrance of the divine 
presence, but how consoling and encouraging to the good? Can 
there, indeed, be any thing better calculated to inspire us, my Breth- 
ren, with a noble courage and an admirable patience in all our cares 
and sorrows ? Can there be any thing better fitted to fill us with 
heroic bravery in the contest we have to maintain against the 
enemies of our salvation ? What more - suited to strengthen us in 
our good resolutions, to impart to us perseverance in the exercise 
of virtue, and in the practice of good works, than this consoling 
thought, God is near me ; He knows what I need. He understands my 
wants ; my sorrows and my crosses are manifest to Him. He sees the 
good works I do to please Him, He witnesses the inward struggle I 
have to sustain against my passions and evil inclinations ; the sighs I 
heave forth from the bottom of my heart, are not hidden from His 
sight. ! yes. He will come to my assistance, and He will reward 
me. If I suffer with Him, I will be glorified with Him in heaven, 
where there are no more dangers, nor sorrows, nor vexations, noi 



GOODNESSOFQOD. 39 

disappointments, nor tears, because all these things shall have 
passed away, but where there are unutterable delights and never 
ending happiness. My Brethren, let us never forget the divine Pres- 
ence after the example of the prophet, who had God always before 
his eyes. The Almighty has himself imposed this practice as a 
law upon us. "Walk before me," He says, "and be ye perfect." 
Yes, my Brethren, wait before the Lord ; Here is the means of 
strengthening yourselves, and of advancing in the paths of virtue 
and of piety. Man ceased to keep God before his eyes, and all his 
ways became wicked, and filled with iniquity. Jerusalem fell into 
crime, because she had forgotten her God. Forgetfulness of the 
divine Presence is the sure road to eternal ruin, while the remem- 
brance of it restrains man within the bounds of duty, and empowers 
him to bring forth fruits worthy of salvation, precious fruits, in re- 
compense of which the Lord promises and grants peace of heart in 
this world, and boundless happiness in the world to come. — Amen. 



SERMON VI. 

FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED.— (continued.) 
GOODNESS OF GOD. 



" Give praise to the Lord, for He is good : for His mercy endureth forever. — 
Psalms, cxvii : 1. 

The Lord God is an infinite Spirit who fills heaven and earth, and 
whom heaven and earth can not contain. He is everywhere. By 
His essence, He is the infinite Being ; by His presence. He is whole 
and entire in each place, as perfectly as He is in the entire universe ; 
by His power. He acts everywhere. God sees all things, — God 
knows all things. He knows our thoughts. He sees our actions. 
He hears our words. The recollection of these divine perfections 
is well calculated to penetrate our hearts with the fear of the Lord, 



40 SHORT SEE MONS. 

and restrain ns from vice and sin. For, how can we dare commit 
sin when we know that God is everywhere, and unceasingly crying 
out to the sinner that his most hidden crimes are seen ? On the 
other hand, the remembrance of these divine perfections, is admira- 
bly suited to inspire us with a noble courage in the practice of 
virtue. For how powerfully must we not feel impelled to be faith- 
ful to the law of God, and how is it possible we could recede on 
the pathway of virtue, while calling to mind that we are under the 
eyes of our sovereign Master, who takes delight in encouraging 
His forgotten and despised servants, by assuring them that their 
virtues have a witness ? But you will be still more firmly attached 
to the service of the Lord your God, w^hen you become better 
acquainted with the most endearing of His perfections, His infinite 
Goodness, of which I intend to speak to you on this occasion. 

** Praise the Lord, because He is good, for He is eternally good," 
says the royal prophet. Wheresoever you cast your eyes, you will 
meet proofs of the infinite Goodness of God,- — everywhere you may 
see and taste how good and sweet the Lord is.* On every side the 
voice of all nature may be heard, exclaiming : "He is a God, author 
of all good ; He is good and merciful ; the Lord is sweet to all His 
creatures, and His mercy and His Goodness are spread over all 
His works."! It was the boundless Goodness of our God, which 
from nothing created the world and the innumerable creatures that 
inhabit it. It is this boundless Goodness of God which fills Him 
with the sincere desire of making happy all His creatures, from the 
highest angel of heaven, to the meanest insect that crawls along the 
earth. **A11 expect of Thee that Thou give them food in season: 
What Thou givest them, they shall gather up ; when Thou openest 
Thy hand, they shall be filled with good."| 

But to us, especially, does it belong to praise with all our heart 
the Lord our God, and to glorify eternally His adorable name :§ 
for it is on us that the Lord has made flow the torrent of His graces, 
of His goodness, and of His love. My Christian Friends, can you 
count the graces, the favors, and the benefits which God bestows upon 
you every day and every hour of the day ? Oh ! every moment of our 
lives is an evidence of the Goodness of God toward us ! It is God 

* Psalms, xxxiii: i). f Psalms, cxliv. i Psalms, ciii:, 27, 28. § Psalms, Ixxxv. 



G00DNES80FG0D. 41 

who is the principle and the source of all that we are and of all that 
we possess. To whom are you indebted for your existence, if not 
to the infinite bounty of God, who gave you being, in preference to 
so many others whom He might have created ? To whom do you 
owe your soul, with its faculty of reason, by which you are elevated 
above all other creatures, if not to the infinite Goodness of God ? 
Truly, God could have left you in the abyss of nothingness and not 
have created you. You did nothing and could not have done any 
thing to deserve the privilege of creation ; but the bounty of God 
has called you, has created you, and raised you up to the highest 
point of glory. He has made you the most excellent, the most 
noble, the most exalted of His creatures in this visible world. He 
has given you a body erect, and of wonderful structure ; He has 
fonned your soul after the most perfect of all models; **let us 
make man to our own image and likeness," said the Lord, — and 
you were accordingly made to the image and likeness of God ; and 
He gave you an immortal soul, a sublime reason, and a will free 
and powerful. Yes ! the hand of God is open, and you have been 
loaded with the favors and the treasures of His bounty ! 

But did the bounty of God cease when He had bestowed upon 
you this creation, so exalted, so privileged ? No ; the hand that 
formed you still continues to lead, feed, and support you ; it dis- 
poses all things with a view to provide for your wants in this world. 
The sun, the moon, the millions of stars that shine in the heavens, 
all animate and inanimate beings which fill the earth, the air, the 
water, for what purpose have they been created? For you, for 
your use, to serve and please you ! For you the grain grows in the 
fields ; for you the grape ripens on the hill-side ; for you the trees 
bend down with fruits; for you the flowers exhale their sweet 
fragrance; for you the whole earth is covered with overflowing 
riches. To provide you with raiment, to assist you in your 
labors or contribute to your support, God speaks, and the earth 
is inhabited with wild and domestic animals. It is the bounty of 
God which commands the strong horse to obey the voice even of a 
child. It is God who holds the proud, threatening head of the ox 
submissive to the yoke and the plough. 

But, my Brethren, does the Lord bestow these benefits, these 
graces and favors only on the wise, the virtuous, and the pious ? 



42 SHORTSERMONS. 

No ; our heavenly Father permits even the most wicked of men to 
drink at the inexhaustible source of His bounty; even such as 
trample under foot the precepts of so good a God, and make it a point 
every moment of their lives to offend Him. It is because this Grood- 
ness becomes mercy and wills not the death of the sinner, but that 
he be converted and live. Therefore does it lavish on the good and 
the bad alike the blessings of health and strength. Yes, it is the 
divine Goodness assuming the visible character of mercy, that 
causes the sun to shed his light and fnictifying heat alike on the just 
and the unjust. It is this merciful Goodness that spreads over the 
fields of the pious Christian the fertilizing dews of heaven, and at 
the same time does not suffer the lands of the impious and wicked to 
be deprived of them. "Let us, then, praise and glorify the Lord, 
because He is good. Let us praise the Lord, for He is good !" Such 
is the lively sense of gratitude with which you should be penetrated 
when you call to mind the immense blessings God has heaped upon 
you. Yet, my Brethren, all I have hitherto said gives but a faint 
idea of the Goodness of God in our regard. Would you know 
where the bounty of God appears in its full extent ? you have 
received the true faith, my Brethren, — and I think I hear you 
answer me in the words of the Apostle : "We have seen the Good- 
ness of God our Saviour, and His love for men ; He has saved us 
by His mercy, by the baptism of regeneration ; in order, that hav- 
ing been justified by his grace, we may hope for the inheritance of 
eternal life." 

The Son of God loved us with a superabounding love; He came 
down from heaven and died for us ! Where is the king, who, to 
rescue from a justly merited death, a criminal, would order his own 
son — his only son — to clothe himself with the garments of a male- 
factor, and deliver himself up to the executioner, to suffer at his 
hands the most ignominous death ? Has the world ever furnished 
such an example ? 'No earthly father ever exhibited such gener- 
osity ; no : but God loves us. His Goodness is infinite ; and so much 
has He loved us that He delivered up for us His Son, His only Son 
in whom He was well pleased. He invested him with the garments 
of a sinner by clothing him with our nature ; He willed that He 
should become the Man of Sorrows, the reproach of the people, and 
that He should die on an ignominious cross. "Having loved His 



G O D N K S S O F G O D . 43 

own, He loved them even to the end." Tlie Son of God died for 
us ! ! goodness of God ! ! mercy of the Lord ! Yes, I will 
praise Thee, Lord, for all time to come, with my whole heart ; 
"because Thou hast delivered my soul from death, my feet from 
falling, that I may please in the sight of the living."* ! bounty 
of God, can I ever be wanting in confidence in Thee ? Surely then, 
the confidence we place in the Goodness and mercy of God is just, 
because well grounded ; but is it not true, my Brethren, that the 
remembrance of the love which God bears you, the recollection of 
His precious favors and His infinite bounties, should have the efiect, 
not merely of exciting your confidence and admiration, but also of 
lighting up in your hearts a burning love, a sincere attachment for 
so tender a Father, for a God so good, who has. loved you so much? 
No, you will no longer offend this God of Goodness, you will no 
longer disobey this best of Masters, this kindest of Fathers ; and 
the resolution of walking henceforth in the way of His command- 
ments, will be indelibly imprinted upon your hearts. The Lord 
would not then say to you : ** I have raised up children ; I have fed 
them and they have despised me."f No, you will sin no more, 
and you will bear constantly in mind that "the grace of God our 
Saviour hath appeared to all men, instructing us, that renouncing 
impiety and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and justly, and 
piously in this world."]; You will remember the abounding Good- 
ness of our God, and you will contribute to His glory, walking in 
the practice of every good work, and thereby worthily preparing 
yourselves to be admitted into that delightful paradise to which He 
invites us all, and which He has opened unto us by His sufferings 
and death on the cross. — Ajiex. 

* Psalms, Iv : 13. f Isaias, i. i Titus, ii : 11, 12. 



44 SHORT SERMONS 



SERMON YII. 

PROVIDENCE OF GOD 



" Know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded." — 
EccLESiASTicus, ii : 11. 

It is tile creative hand of God which, drew from nothing the 
world and all that it contains, and it is His Providence which 
watches over and preserves all things. If the sun faithfully runs its 
course in the heavens, it is God who, as it were, leads it along. 
If that beneficent planet sheds light and fertility on the earth, it is 
because God so ordains it. If the earth supplies our wants and 
rewards the labor of man by yielding him his daily bread, it only 
obeys the commands of the Lord. If the air descends into our 
breasts and keeps us alive, it but follows the path marked out for it 
by Providence. Yes, my Brethren, the eye of Providence is always 
upon the works of creation, and from the crawling worm to the 
highest star, every thing is an object of the tenderest solicitude of 
the Lord. Oh ! " know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and 
hath been confounded." Yes, we ought to have confidence in the 
paternal Providence of God, for He is all-powerful. He is infinitely 
wise, and His bounty knows no limits. You know it is of this 
Providence that I wish to speak to you to-day. It is a most inter- 
esting subject : listen then with attention. In vain would all the 
beings in heaven, on earth and in hell unite their efforts to oppose 
the exercise of God's power ; the will of the Lord must ever be 
accomplished. The reward will always be given and the punish- 
ment inflicted just as it pleases God. This is a truth supported by 
numerous examples drawn from the Sacred Scriptures or furnished 
by the experience of all ages. Joseph, while yet a youth, had 
attained the highest degree of perfection in the practice of virtue. 



I'ROVIDENCEOFGOD. 45 

and the most ardent piety adorned his beautiful soul. In the 
designs of God it was in consequence determined that he should be 
raised to honors and to wealth. Beloved by his father Jacob, he 
was for that very reason an object of aversion to his brothers, 
whose hatred increased when they learned that Joseph had resolved 
to reveal to their father, a heinous crime of which these wicked 
youths were guilty. But their hatred was changed into fury when 
Joseph in his simplicity,. made known to them the two dreams 
which the Lord had sent him, and which foretold that this holy son 
of Jacob would be invested with great authority over his brothers. 
In their unnatural rage they determined to take away his life, but 
God willed that Kuben, the eldest of the patriarch's children, should 
oppose their horrid design. His Providence brought along some 
Egyptian merchants, and to them Joseph was sold by his brethren. 
After that he became a slave to Potiphar, the captain of the king's 
guards, who at first recognizing the profound wisdom of this holy 
young man, treated him well, but being deceived by calumny, had 
him before long cast into a prison. Here he lay for some years, 
until the Providence of God in a wonderful manner, made him 
known to Pharao, the king of Egypt. His wisdom, and the fore- 
sight which the Almighty had given to him, enabled him to render 
most signal services to the king and all the people of -Egypt, and 
Pharao, in gratitude for these services, elevated him to the dignity 
of governor of his empire, and made him the greatest man in the 
kingdom next himself. Thus it was that God at length rewarded 
the virtues of his servant Joseph. 

From this same land of Egypt, the cry of the Israelites arose to 
the Lord to deliver them from the cruel slavery under which they 
had groaned for so many years. God commands Moses and his 
brother Aaron to go and inform Pharao that he must permit the 
children of Israel to leave the land of Egypt. Pharao hardens 
his heart, resists the command of God, and the hand of the Lord 
chastises him and his people with ten frightful plagues. The cruel 
king is forced to acknowledge the finger of the Almighty in the 
wonders which were wrought before his eyes ; he bows to the man- 
dates of heaven, and allows the people of God to depart. But he 
soon grows sorry and changes his mind. Then, at the head of a 
powerful army, he follows on the tracks of the Israelites : he sees 



4:6 SHORT SERMONS. 

them, hastens his march, and resolves to massacre them on the 
shores of the Red Sea. But what can man do in opposition to the 
designs of God ? God commands ; Moses strikes the waters, and 
they rise like high walls on each side to give a passage to the poor 
fugitives. The king of Egypt presses on their steps in this road 
hollowed out in the middle of the sea ; once more Moses strikes the 
waters, the sea returns to its bed and buries in its waves the entire 
Egyptian army. Thus it is God punishes the wicked. 

God is all-powerful ; what he wills is accomplished in despite of 
all the evil designs and criminal projects of men. ** There is one 
most high Creator, Almighty, and a powerful King and greatly to 
be feared, who sitteth upon His throne, and He is the God of 
dominion."* Children of an all-powerful God, have confidence in 
your heavenly Father, and let yourselves be conducted by His holy 
and adorable Providence, which rules and disposes all things accord- 
ing to the councils of the most profound wisdom. God knows 
all things, sees all things, ordains all things ; nothing happens, 
nothing is done, but what the Lord wills or permits. "And 
all their works are as the sun in the sight of God ; and His eyes 
are continually upon their ways."! It is by dispensation of His 
will or permission of His wisdom, that good things or evil, health 
and sickness, success and misfortune, prosperity and misery come 
upon us. Every thing in the world moves along in the paths 
marked out by Providence ; it is the Lord who directs the steps of 
man, whether he be a scourge of God, who lays waste the land, or 
an peaceful ploughman who makes it fertile by his labor. Even 
the most minute events are balanced in the hand of Providence, for 
the Lord hath said, "not a sparrow shall fall to the ground without 
the will of your heavenly Father. The very hairs of your head are 
numbered. "J; Let your hearts, therefore, repose with the utmost 
confidence on the infinitely wise Providence of your God. Receive 
with gratitude the blessings He bestows upon you, but also accept 
with resignation, and bear with patience, the crosses He sends you ; 
murmur not against God, and arraign not His Providence. Ah ! 
my Brethren, how can we be so daring as to summon the Provi- 
dence of God to the tribunal of our weak reason ? Who are we 

* Ecclesiasticus, i : 8. t Eccles-iasticus, xvii : 16. t St. Matthew, x : 29,30. 



PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 47 

that we would enter into dispute with the Lord ? And nevertheless 
we have the audacity to do so, when we criticise the conduct of 
God ; as for example, in the distribution of worldly goods. Why, 
we ask, are there some rich, and some poor? Tell me, my Breth- 
ren, if all were rich, who would he willing to labor ? Who would 
wish to be laborer, mechanic, or servant? If all were masters, 
who would obey ? Who would prevent crime and resist injustice ? 
If all were poor, who would assist the unfortunate ! The world 
would be like a vast hospital overcrowded with suffering beings 
without aid and without resources. Take the world then as it is, 
and acknowledge and adore the supreme wisdom of your Creator, 
for it is ever accompanied by His infinite bounty. This pious, up- 
right man, prospers in his enterprises, lives to a good old age, and 
enjoys happiness; why? because he is worthy of this happiness. 
His virtues deserved it, and he knows how to make a holy use of 
the goods which God gives him. On the other hand, I see another 
righteous Christian who is poor, unfortunate, pressed down with 
disease and with sorrows ; why ? because God desires that the 
heart of this Christian should not be attached to this world, but 
that he should aspire to the possession of celestial and eternal goods. 
Like the poor man Lazarus, he is in suffering, but if like Lazarus, 
he walks along the road of sorrows, like him also will he arrive at the 
heaven of joy. Death comes and takes away that fervent young 
Christian, as it took away in the flower of their youth Abel and 
Aloysius of Gonzaga ; why ? because God hastens to call him to 
heaven, there to reward his holy life ; or perhaps God, who loves 
him, took him from this world, foreseeing that a longer life would 
have caused his ruin and perdition. 

God strikes the impious and wicked with death in the midst of 
their career: why? because they are unworthy of life, and He is 
unwilling that their bad example should be any longer a tempta- 
tion te the just. But other wicked men live a long time on earth : 
there is no one, no matter how depraved he may be, who has not 
sometimes performed some good deeds. God grants him a long 
life, thus to reward on earth the few good works he may have per- 
formed, and also to give him time to be converted and to be saved. 
It often happens, that the Lord strikes a terrible blow, prostrates 
the wicked, and plunges him into misery, sickness and misfortune ; 



48 SHORT SERMONS. 

thus to compel him to open his eyes to the true light, to acknowl- 
edge his crimes, to be converted, and to save his soul. 

Yes, my Brethren, the wisdom of God is displayed in all He 
does, ordains or permits. Therefore, it does not belong to our 
weak reason to penetrate the inscrutable designs of the Lord our 
God. Let us often say with the Apostle : " Oh ! how incomprehen- 
sible are the judgments of God ! how unsearchable are His ways !" 
How good God is, and how He loves to take care of us, who are 
the work of His hands ! 

God is good; He compares himself to a most tender father, 
saying: "As the father hath compassion on his children, so hath 
the Lord compassion on them that fear Him."* God is good, 
loving us with more than a mother's love and tenderness, for he 
says to us : *' Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity 
on the son of her womb ? and if she should forget, yet will not I 
forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee in my hands. "f You see 
then that the Lord watches over you with more care, loves you with 
more affection, than the most tender mother loves her beloved child. 
Have confidence then in the Providence of God. How the millions 
of poor, who like the birds of the air sow not neither do they reap, 
and yet find their daily bread, proclaim the watchfulness of God's 
bounty, and the maternal solicitude of His divine Providence. 
How the poor little orphans, who deprived of father and mother, 
yet find at the hands of God, nourishment and raiment, exalt His 
divine goodness. God has seen their tears, He has heard their 
sighs. Surely He who hears so plainly and answers so benignantly 
the plaintive cry of the little famishing bird, cannot be deaf to the 
voice, or heedless of the misery of the creatures whom He has 
stamped with His own image and likeness ? After the example of all 
the true servants of God, let us, my Brethren, repose with confi- 
dence on the Providence of God. He is infinitely powerful, infi- 
nitely wise and good, and His care will never abandon us. But let 
us also endeavor to fulfill well His precepts and commandments ; 
let us discharge with diligence and cheerfulness the duties of the 
state of life in which the hand of God has placed us ; let us abound 
in good works, and thereby contribute to the glory of God ; this is 

* Psalms, cii: 13. t Isaias, xlix: 15. 



T HE W O K L D A N D T II E A N G E L S . 49 

our vocation in this world. But it is from God that the desire and 
the strength to accomplish it must come. Let us, therefore, pray 
with fervor and with perseverance ; let us ask, and it will be given 
us ; God will be with us, and every day we will feel the truth of 
these words of the royal projihet : "hope in the Lord and do good, 
and all things will turn to your advantage." — Amen. 



SERMON VIII 



FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED— (continued.) 
THE WORLD AND THE ANGELS. 



" All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord : ye Angels of the Lord, bless the 
Lord." — Daniel, iii : 57. 

We have had the happiness of meditating on the Lord, our God, 
and we know what are His adorable* perfections. We will adore 
Him and love Him, for He is the supreme majesty, Avhose power is 
without limits, whose knowledge is infinite, whose goodness is 
unbounded. We will have confidence in the providence of our 
God, for whatever it does, and whatever it ordains is good, holy and 
adorable. We know now that the blessings which heaven bestows 
upon us, and the evils wherewith we are afilicted, all proceed from 
the love of God for us, the love of a father for his children ; onr 
last instruction convinced ns of this. Let us then continue the 
explanation of the first article of our Creed, and let us speak to-day 
of the creation of the World and of the Angels. To create is to 
make out of nothing, to call into existence, to give being to that 
which was not, to cause a being to exist from nothing and by a 
single act of the will. ''Ibelieve in God, the Father Almighty, Crea- 
tor of heaven and earth;" that is to say: I believe, I confess, I 
acknowledge that in the beginning, whilst there was nothing, and 
when there was neither heaven nor earth, God, who is from all eter- 
5 



60 SHORTSERMONS. 

nity, called from nothing every thing which exits, hoth heaven and 
earth, and every thing which they contain. To create all things, He 
required neither matter nor instruments; He is himself the sole 
principle of all things, even of matter from which He made all 
things else. The general of an army says : let the army march, 
and forthwith the army marches ; let it make such an evolution, 
and the evolution is made. A whole army is put in motion at the 
command of one man, hy the simple motion of his lips : Feeble 
image of the power of God ! The Almighty has no lips to move ; 
His word is not like that of man, it is not a mere vibration of air 
which strikes the ear; the word of God is His will. He spoke, 
thatisto say. He willed. He has only to will in himself, and every 
thing which He wills, must be fulfilled as he willed it, and at the 
time which He marked out. ''Look upon heaven and earth, and 
all that is in them, and consider that God made them out of no- 
thing."'* He made all things in six days. It was not through dis- 
ability or weakness that God distributed the works of creation into 
six different days, neither was it through fatigue that He rested 
when He had completed it. But He wished, by dividing them, to 
make us more attentive to His wonders, and in some manner to. 
adapt them to our capacity, by showing them to us in parts ; He 
wished, moreover, to teach us that we ought to labor during six 
days of the week, but that the seventh should be spent in holy rest. 

Every thing which God created, was good and even perfect. 
*'He saw all the things which He had made," says the inspired 
writer, " and they were very good." Nevertheless, there were some 
of His creatures that far surpassed the others in excellence and per- 
fection. These privileged creatures were Angels and men. 

We are unable to say precisely on what day or in what instant 
of the creation of the World, it pleased God to create the Angels ; 
the Holy Scriptures do not mention it. No doubt, it was in the 
beginning; for the Lord says in the book of Job: ''When the 
morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a 
joyful melody. "f They were certainly created before man received 
existence, since Eve was deceived by the devil, the chief of the fallen 
Angels, who took the form of a serpent in order to seduce her. 

♦ 2 Machabecs, vii : 28, + Job, xxxviii : 7. 



THE WORLD AND THE ANGELS. 51 

The Angels are pure spirits, endowed with a high degree of intelli- 
gence, and having neither body nor figure. They are not such as 
they are represented to us. We see them painted young, because 
spirits or pure intelligences, never grow old ; and with wings, to 
show the speed and quickness wherewith they execute the orders of 
God, for **they are all spirits appointed to be the ministers of the 
will of the Lord."* They were created in the state of grace 
and sanctity, enjoyed the friendship of God, were embellished with 
all the gifts of grace necessary and sufficient for their perseverance 
in good, and were appointed to merit by their perseverance the 
happiness of never falling. But the Angels were free, and like 
us, they had to merit by their fidelity, the happiness of being con- 
firmed in grace. All were not faithful ; there were some among 
them who abused their liberty ; who had the audacity to rise in 
rebellion against God, and revolt against their sovereign Master. 
But they lost for ever the ineffable happiness of seeing and of prais- 
ing, of adoring and of loving God in heaven. God did not pardon 
these rebellious and prevaricating Angels ; "but having cast them 
down into the place of torments, delivered them into the chains of 
hell to be tormented, to be reserved unto judgment. "f Thus it 
was, that God confounded the pride of these rebel spirits, who in 
the person of Lucifer, their chief, had the audacity to say: *'I will 
ascend ir^to heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars, and I 
will be like the Most High. "J See how they were hurled into the bot- 
tom of the abyss, which had been prepared for them, or scattered in the 
air, but bearing always within themselves the hell which burns them. 

It is the doctrine of all authors, the Apostolic doctrine, as St. 
Jerome and St. Augustine tell us, that the air, which is between 
heaven and earth, is full of bad Angels. '' Our wrestling is not 
against flesh and blood," says St. Paul; ''but against principalities 
and powers ; against the rulers of the world of this darkness ; against 
the spirits of wickedness in high places. "§ The demons hate us, 
for jealousy gnaws their proud hearts, as they know that an exceed- 
ingly great promise was made to us, and that we have it in our 
power, to attain those thrones in heaven which they have lost. 
Hence they spare no pains, but labor continually to drag us into 

* Hebrews,!. t 2 Peter, ii : 4. t Isnias, xiv : 13. § Epbesians, vi: 12. 



62 SHORTSERMONS. 

sin, that they may thereby wrest ns from God. Wherefore, says 
the Holy Ghost, **be sober, and watch; because your adversary, the 
devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may 
devour/'* 

No doubt, the devil is full of craft and malice ; still, he can only 
entice and tempt, but he can not offer you violence. *' He is like a 
chained dog," says St. Augustine; ''he can bark, but he cannot bite 
any, except those who go near him, and rashly expose themselves 
to his teeth." The fault then always rests with ourselves, if we fall 
into sin ; for it is always possible for us, with the aid and the grace 
of God, to resist the most violent temptations. Great is the hatred 
of the devil, furious the envy which gnaws his heart ; far beyond 
that of men is his power ; and yet he can not hurt your souls, if you 
preserve in your heart a firm resolution of living well, if you place 
your confidence in God, if you pray, and follow the counsel of the 
good Angels who remained faithful to the Lord. 

But while on one side, the spirits of the abyss and the powers of 
darkness struggle with all their might to injure us, and make us 
unfaithful to the holy law of God, that we may one day suffer and 
blaspheme with them in hell ; on the other, the Angels of heaven 
are always ready to help us with their powerful assistance, to protect 
us, and defend us against the suggestions and temptations of om* 
enemies. In fact, it is not only that they might honor, praise and 
adore Him in heaven, that the Almighty created the Angels ; but also 
that they might minister to those who were to possess the inherit- 
ance of salvation, " and He hath given His Angels charge over thee 
to keep thee in all thy ways."* Yes, these holy Angels, faithful to 
the divine command, constantly walk at our right hand and discover 
to us the snares which the devil lays for us. They are, unceasingly 
occupied inspiring us with a holy fear of God, and with a lively 
and constant love of virtue. ! who can tell the charity of these 
happy spirits ! their sympathy for our misfortunes, their attention 
to our wants ! their patience in supporting our weakness ! Certain 
of their own salvation, they have no uneasiness but for us. It is, 
therefore, that they manifest such great joy in heaven when a sinner 
is converted, and does penance ; hence they pray for us with such 

* 1 Peter, v: 8 f Psalms, xc : 11. 



CREATION AND SIN OF THE FIRST MAN. 53 

great fervor. Hence comes that attention wliicli they still have in pre- 
senting before the throne of the Lord, our supplications and our vows. 
We will never depart from the way of wisdom and of duty, my 
Brethren, hut will ever advance toward perfection and happiness, 
if we keep closely united to these holy Angels, listen attentively to 
their good counsels, follow their salutary inspirations, and corres- 
pond to the care they take to conduct us to heaven. Let us do this, 
let us always do this, my Brethren, and thus guided, we are sure to 
pass safe and sound, through the dangerous desert of this life, and 
we shall infallibly reach the sublime goal, which the Lord hath 
marked out for us ; we shall reach heaven, for which the paternal 
hand of God formed us. — Amen. 



SERMON IX. 

FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED.— (continued.) 

CREATION AND SIN OF THE FIRST MAN. 



" Let us make man to our image and likeness." — Genesis, i : 26. 

Of all creatures that are in heaven or on earth, the angels and 
men are the most noble, because being endowed with the gift of 
reason, thev bear a greater likeness to God. The angels were crea- 
ted in sanctity and justice, but all did not remain faithful to the 
Lord. Many of them were ruined through pride, and were driven 
by the justice of God from heaven. These rebellious spirits, jealous 
of the happiness to Avhich the bounty of the Lord calls us, endeavor 
by every possible means to deprive us of this happiness by render- 
ing us unworthy of it. But, if the bad angels seek our ruin, on the 
other hand, the good angels protect us, discover to us the snares 
of our enemy, and teach us how to avoid them. Such was the im 
portant matter which I unfolded to you in our last instruction 



54 SHORT SERMONS . 

To-day I will recall to your recollection wliat religion teaches on the 
subject of the Creation and the sad fall of the first man. 

On the sixth day of Creation, every thing in nature was ready ; 
hut the world was like a state without a king, like a temple without 
a priest, and all creatures, insensible and inanimate themselves, 
demanded an interpreter, who could give glory for them to the 
Lord. Then it was that God said: **Let us make man to our 
image and likeness." He took a little of the slime of the earth, a 
little clay, and from it formed the body of man ; He breathed upon 
this body, that is to say, He created a soul which He placed in this 
body, and to His work He gave the name of Adam, which signifies 
man of earth, or red earth. 

If Adam had to remain the only one of his kind, or if he were 
to have for his companions only the irrational animals, there would 
have been no one with whom he could converse on the advantages 
of his happy state, and the blessings of his bountiful Creator. God 
therefore said : *' It is not good that man be alone ; let us make for 
him a companion like to himself." And at the same instant Adam 
fell into a profound sleep ; the Lord took from his side a rib, with 
which He formed the body of woman; infused into her, as into 
Adam, a spiritual and immortal soul, and gave to this woman the 
name of Eve, which signifies mother of the living. Such is the 
history of the Creation of our first parents, as the Holy Spirit has 
preserved it for us in the books of Moses. 

You see, my Brethren, man is a being composed of two parts, 
which are essentially different. He is composed of a body formed 
from the slime of the earth, and of a spiritual, rational, immortal 
soul, which is most certainly, the noblest portion of our being ; or 
rather our being is essentially the soul, and our body is but the 
clothing. It is by our soul and by it alone, that we take our place 
in the ranks of intelligent and rational beings. It is by our soul 
and by it alone, that we are made the images of God. It is by our 
soul and by it alone, that we are elevated even to the knowledge of 
our God, adore, love and serve Him. It is by our soul and by it 
alone, that we are enabled to see God in heaven, to contemplate 
Him, and, in this ineffable contemplation, to taste the supreme hap- 
piness. And what is our body ? A little slimy earth. It, there- 
fore, is nothing ; in the soul behold our real treasure, behold our true 



CREATION AND SIN OF THE FIRST MAN. 55 

glory. It was not drawn from matter, tlie earth was not the place 
of its origin ; it came from God, i)ure, spiritual and immortal. 
Alas ! How little do we comprehend our dignity ! We carry in 
our breasts a soul on which God has engraved His own likeness, an 
immortal soul, and we carry it as heedless of the fact as the moun- 
tain is insensible to the treasure concealed beneath its surface. St. 
Bernard reproaches our folly, when he said, that it seems there is 
nothing more vile to our eyes than our soul. We see only our 
body, we love only our body, we do nothing good except for the 
body ; but our body comes from the earth, and it will return to the 
earth, while our soul comes from God, and it ought to return to God. 
Take care then that you do not dishonor, and that you do not lose 
this heaven-born soul ; take care that you do not descend even to 
the ranks of the brutes by making yourselves slaves of vile and 
shameful passions. ! such is not the destiny of man, no, — man is 
made for heaven. 

Man, so signally favored above all visible creatures, was placed 
in a garden of delights. It was his duty to love his God ; to serve 
Him by his love ; to bless that beneficent hand which heaped upon 
him so many favors, and to look for eternal glory as the recom- 
pense of his fidelity. Had he remained faithful, death ^vould not 
have come to separate his soul from his body ; but, without under- 
going the agony of death, after a certain time spent on earth, he 
would have been borne by the hand of God into heaven, there to 
enjoy eternal happiness. Such was the noble destiny of man, and 
to attain it, every means was given him. In fact, he went forth 
perfect from the hands of God : " God made man right ;"* 
** He was created not to die," says St. Paul in his Epistle to the 
Romans. f No darkness obscured his mind ;_ no dangerous ignor- 
ance, no defect of judgment and reason tarnished the beauty of his 
soul. He possessed all the natural and supernatural lights of which 
he was capable, and which were suitable to him. He was free, but 
his will was upright and inclined to good, with no leaning toward 
evil. In the heart of our first father, there was none of that con- 
cupiscence which disorders our inclinations, there were none of 
those passions which disturb the serenity of our souls and the peace 

* Ecclesiastcs, vii. t Romans, v. 



56 SnORTSEKMO:N^S. 

of our hearts. In Adam, the flesh was subject to the sjoirit, and 
the spirit might have been easily made subject to God. For so 
many great favors what did the Creator require from man ? That 
man should abstain from eating the fruit of a certain tree, which 
was pointed out to him, a token of his gratitude that he should have 
given with as much joy as fidelity. But behold, the devil enters 
into the serpent, presents the fatal fruit to Eve, addresses her with 
flattering words, and inspires her with a deadly pride. Eve eats of 
this fruit, Adam eats of it, and both are plunged into the lowest 
depths of misery. x\wful will be the punishment, for great has 
been the crime which they have committed. 

The sin of Adam was a sin which included in itself a vast num- 
ber of others ; it was a sin of pride and of the most insolent pride, 
by which man, not content with the degree of honor to which God 
had elevated him, wished even to make himself equal to God ; it 
was a sin of revolt, by which the creature sought to usurp that 
independence which belongs only to God ; it was a sin of criminal 
curiosity, of base sensuality, of black ingratitude toward a sover- 
eign benefactor ; it was an impious disobedience, by which man, 
despising the express prohibition of the Creator, refused to acknowl- 
edge him as his master ; it was a crime which embraced in itself 
every crime, since it reduced the human race to the slavery of ignor- 
ance and concupisence, from which all crimes proceed ; a crime by 
which the first man entailed death on all his posterity to the end of 
ages. Adam was the murderer of himself and of all his descend- 
ants, whom he deprived of the life of innocence, on the instant of 
their conception in their mother's womb. The sin of Adam was 
a sin unutterable in its enormity, an incomprehensible misfortune ! 
says St. Augustine. And this sin is also ours, it carries ruin to 
our souls, it sullies all the descendants of these first sinners: 
"Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin 
death; so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned."* 
"And we were by nature children of wrath." j- 

Adam sinned, he committed a great crime, and punishment fell 
upon the guilty. The change which was wrought in Adam and in all 
nature, was frightful ; the flesh rebelled against the spirit, disorder 

* Romans v: 12. + Ephe?ians ii : 3. 



CREATION AND SIN OF THE FIRST MAN. 57 

settled in the lieavt and in the body of man, thick darkness obscured 
his soul, his will became unruly, his j)a'S«ions usurjDed the place of 
reason and justice, and his propensities became corrupt, and inclin- 
ing him to evil. He is driven from the earthly paradise by the 
angel of the Lord ; he must suffer, groan, and eat his bread in the 
sweat of his brow. He lost the life of the soul, when he lost jus- 
tice, and when he separated himself from God : he may be justly 
regarded as dead, since for him death is inevitable, and the infirmi- 
ties and calamities to which he is henceforth subject, are the prepar- 
ation and forerunner of his painful death. Man committed a crime 
which should have caused his irreparable ruin, but Thou, my 
God, hast cast upon him a look of mercy. Oh ! how immense is the 
mercy which the Lord has displayed toward prevaricating man ! 
Learn, my Brethren, how grateful you ought to be to the pater- 
nal bounty of your God. The angels, it is true, sinned in heaven, 
but this sin defiled only those angels who were guilty, it matters 
not, for them there is no hope of pardon, and the justice of God, 
swifter than the lightning's flash, overtakes them, and precipitates 
them from heaven into the eternal torments of hell. Man also 
became guilty ; did God reject him forever ? boundless mercy ! 
God gave man time to enter into himself, to acknow^ledge his fault, 
to weep over his crime, to do penance, and to recover the heaven 
which he had lost. divine bounty ! man commits a crime unut- 
terable in its malice, an incomprehensible crime, and on the very 
instant God comes to him, seeks him, calls him, and promises to 
him a Saviour w^ho would die for man's sins. This Saviour will be 
the only Son of that great offended God, — Jesus Christ. — who, 
eighteen hundred and fifty-nine years ago, descended from the 
highest heavens into the virginal womb of Mary, clothed himself 
with our nature, and became man without ceasing to be God ; who 
took upon himself all our iniquities, and died on the cross to redeem 
us from hell. It is this divine Jesus who opened heaven for us, and 
who invites us to follow him in the pathway of virtue, which leads 
to supreme happiness. — Amen. 



58 SHORT SERMONS. 



SERMON X. 

SECOND AND THIRD ARTICLES OF THE CREED. 

THE INCARNATION. 



"And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord." — Apostles' Creed. 

M.AN, created to tlie image of Grod in sanctity and justice, placed 
in the terrestrial paradise, and loaded with graces and with favors, 
had the audacity to transgress the law of his Creator ,• defiled with 
the stain of sin, he became unfortunate himself, and made all his 
posterity sharers in his misfortune. Such is the teaching of faith. 
But it would avail us little to know the origin and cause of our 
evils, if we did not also know their remedy. Now this so necessary 
remedy, religion teaches us, is to be found in the sacred mystery of 
the Incarnation, that is to say, in the mystery of the Son of God 
made man, a mystery which we profess to believe every time we 
recite the Creed, wherein we say; "1 believe in Jesus Christ, His 
only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born 
of the Virgin Mary." It is this adorable mystery which will make 
the subject of our present instruction. Listen then to me, I pray 
you, with attention. 

That we may conceive a just idea of the great mystery of the 
Incarnation, let us first give ear to the Apostle St. John. *'In the 
beginning," he says, *'was the Word," that is to say, the Son of 
God, '*and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All 
things were made by Him, and without Him was made nothing 
that was made. . . . He was in the world, and the world was made 
by Him, and the world knew Him not. . . . And the Word was 
made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth."* 

* St. John, i. 



THK INCARNATION. 59 

Beliold, my Brethren, the most sublime and most touching ex- 
pression possible of the mystery of the Incarnation. We see here 
the eternal Word, the only Son of God, the second person of the 
most Holy Trinity, in all the majesty, which becomes Him as God ; 
but this eternal Word, by -whom all things were made, and without 
whom nothing was made ; this great God who filled the whole 
world with His presence, and whom the world knew not, to what 
Avas He not reduced that He might come to dwell among us, and thus 
make himself known to the world ? " He was made flesh," that is 
to say, He is united to the flesh in such a manner, that Pie was made 
but one with the flesh. *'He is made flesh;" but the Son of God 
took also a soul like ours ; why then does the Apostle speak here 
only of the flesh, only of that body composed of flesh and bones, 
which had its origin from the slime of earth ? Ah ! my Brethren, 
it was that we might see more clearly the wonderful humiliation 
to which the Son of God reduced himself through love of us. 
Should a prince descend from his throne and put on the dress of the 
meanest of his subjects, that he might enter the dungeon of a poor 
prisoner and bear him words of consolation ; would he on that 
account cease to be prince ? Would he in his rags, lose any of his 
dignity and power ? assuredly not. Thus it was, my Brethren, 
that the Son of God clothed himself in our flesh and assumed the 
form of the slave, yet without losing any of His divinity, but con- 
tinuing to be after His Incarnation all that He had been before it. 
Nevertheless, since we are only dust and ashes, it is always true to 
say with the Apostle St. Paul, that in becoming like unto us, the 
Son of God humbled himself even to annihilation. 

"Tlie Word was made flesh," the Son of God became perfectly 
like unto us poor and miserable creatures ; in truth, sin and concu- 
piscence alone excepted, Jesus, the Son of the Eternal God, was as 
we are. Like us, He had a body subject to hunger, to thirst, to 
fatigue, to sleep, to pain and to death. Like us, He had a soul sen- 
sible of joy, sadness, fear, hope and pity. St. Paul admirably ex- 
presses this when he says that our divine Saviour "was tempted in 
all things like as we are, yet without sin."* 

The Word of God was made flesh, and the body which He 

» Hebrews, iv: 15. 



60 SHORT SERMONS. 

assumed, He took in the chaste womb of the most holy Virgin 
Maiy, who was of the royal family of David. In her chaste womb 
He was conceived by the Holy Ghost in a manner, altogether mirac- 
ulous and divine. The same Grod who created heaven and earth, 
who formed from dust the body of the first man, and his soul from 
nothing, this great Grod, from the most pure blood of Mary, formed 
a body like ours, for which He created and to which He united a 
human soul, but a soul all pure and holy. At the very instant 
when God formed this body and this soul, the eternal Word, the 
second person of the most adorable Trinity, descending from heaven, 
without quitting the bosom of His Father, and becoming what until 
then He was not, without ceasing to be what from all eternity He 
was, came to unite himself to this body and to this soul, by a tie 
which even death could not sever. The Son of God became the 
Son of man! 

Although the three divine persons cooperated in this sacred 
mystery to produce this body and this soul, and the union of the 
eternal Word with this body and this soul, yet the Apostles and 
the Church attribute this miraculous operation to the Holy Ghost. 
Ah ! my Brethren, the reason for it is affecting. It is because the 
Holy Ghost being the essential love of the Father and the Son, the 
work of the Incarnation of the Word should be attributed to Him, 
inasmuch as it is the most manifest and most sensible proof of 
God's love for us: ''God," says the Holy Ghost himself, **so 
loved the world, that He delivered up His only Son, in order that 
all who believe in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." 

Guided by faith, let us penetrate as far as possible into the mys- 
tery of the Son of God, made man. Jesus Christ is at the same 
time perfect God and perfect man. He is God like His Father, 
and in all things equal to Him ; He is man like us, and in all things 
like us, except in sin. As God, says St. Augustine, He has a 
Father who begot Him. from all eternity, and He has no mother ; as 
man, He was created in time, and has no father, for Joseph, the 
spouse of Mary, was only the guardian of his infancy. As God, 
Jesus Christ is eternal, and was before Abraham had been created. 
As man, He was the descendant of Abraham. As God, He changed 
water into wine, He healed with a word, the most incurable diseases, 
restored the dead to life, and commanded all nature. As man. He 



THE INCARNATION. 61 

was born in Bethlehem, fied into Egypt, drank, ate, rested, slept, 
was troubled, afflicted, suffered and died. Had then our divine 
Saviour, in His one person, two distinct natures, a divine and a 
human one? Yes, and each of these natures had a will and power 
of action proper to itself. 

But these two natures are united one with the other in such a 
manner, that they cannot be separated. They will and act togethei", 
and their wills and actions are always in perfect harmony. We 
can not separate these two natures, yet, one is perfectly distinct 
from the other, the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ and His divin- 
ity make but one and the same person ; the soul, the body and the 
divine Word, make but one Jesus Christ, but one Man-God, but 
one God, made man, Avho was both God and man at the same time. 

What follows from this mysterious union ? That Jesus Christ, 
being both God and man, every thing that He has said, done and 
suffered, belongs equally to one and to the other ; that the birth of 
Jesus Christ, perfect man. His tears. His sufferings, His blood and 
His death are no less than His most divine works, the birth, the 
tears, the sufferings, the blood and the death of a God. Why? 
Because it was not a part of Jesus Christ that did or suffered all 
these things, but it was Jesus Christ w^hole and entire, Jesus Christ, 
both God and man, Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God and God 
like to the Father. What further follows from this mysterious 
union ? That the most holy Virgin is truly, really, properly, and 
in all the force of the term, the mother of God. It is true, she had 
no part in the eternal generation of Jesus Christ as God ; but Jesus 
both God and man was not less wholly and completely her son ; 
just as we are wholly and completely, soul and body, the children 
of our mothers, although they had no part in the creation of our 
souls. Mary indeed is really the mother of God ; to her alone be- 
longs the honor of having, in common with God the Father, a son 
who is at the same time both her son and the Son of God. This 
Son of God made man, this divine Son of Mary is called Jesus 
Christ. This is the name given Him by God before He was con- 
ceived in the womb of His mother, and to our divine Lord alone 
does it belong to bear this sacred name, for this name signifies 
Saviour, and Jesus was the only one who saved us, who delivered 
us from our sins and from the pains of hell which we had merited ; 



62 S H O R T S E K M O N S . 

the salvation too wliicli He brought on earth, is the eternal salvation, 
the salvation which a God alone can give. Name of Jesus ! adora- 
ble name of my divine Saviour ! thou art above every name ! at the 
name of Jesus then, let every knee bow in heaven, on earth, and in 
hell. 

The name of Christ, which we join to that of Jesus, is no less 
divine, for our Lord has said " flesh and blood have not revealed it, 
but my Father who is in heaven." Christ signifies anointed or 
consecrated ; this is the reason our divine Saviour is called the 
Christ. He is in himself and by himself the Christ, for in Him 
the plenitude of the divinity dwells. It is this unction of the 
divinity that made Him at the same time priest, king and prophet. 
As priest. He offered himself for us on the cross, and still offers 
himself daily on our altars. As king, and King of kings, and 
Lord of lords, *'all power was given to Him in heaven and on 
earth." As prophet. He is the source of light; for He contains 
within himself all the treasures of the wisdom and of the science 
of the prophets, and it was not by measure, **but in all its pleni- 
tude, that Grod gave His Spirit to Him." 

Such, my Brethren, was He whom God raised up in the midst 
of His people to conduct them to salvation and happiness, who 
blotted out the sentence of condemnation pronounced against us, 
who reconciled earth with heaven, and broke down the thick wall 
which separated us from God. Glory, honor and thanksgiving to 
our good Saviour ! Ah ! let us never cease to praise and bless Him ! 
and let us never forget that this good Jesus came on earth to induce 
us to follow Him in the path of virtue, in the love of God, and the 
love of our neighbor. Let us follow this divine Saviour, for He is 
the way, the truth, and the life ; let us hear Him, He alone has the 
words of eternal life ; let us perform well what He has commanded, 
follow the example He has given, practice the heavenly doctrine 
He has taught ; and then truly will He be to us a Saviour, opening 
for us the gates of heaven, and conducting us into the bosom of 
God. — Amen. 



CONCEPTION OF JESUS ClIKIST. 63 

SERMOiN XL 

SECOND AND THIRD ARTICLES OF THE CREED.— (continued.) 

CONCEPTION AND BIETH OF JESUS CHRIST. 



"Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Maiy." — Apostles' 
Creed. 

The most profitable, necessary and precious knowledge whicli we 
can acquire, is the knowledge of the truth which must enlighten us, 
of the life which must animate us, and of the way w^hich must lead 
us to happiness ; in a word — the knowlege of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
for He is the way, the truth, and the life. Call to mind then, my 
Brethren, the truths which I explained to you in my last instruc- 
tion. You should know now what our divine Saviour Jesus Christ 
is. He is both God and man. Son of God and Son of man. As 
God, Jesus Christ is the second person of the most holy Trinity ; 
as man. He is the son of the holy Virgin Mary ; as God, He has a 
divine nature ; as man, He has a human nature. In Jesus Christ 
these two natures are perfectly united, without being confounded ; 
they do not form two persons, but the sacred humanity of Jesus 
Christ and His divinity, united together, constitute but one and the 
same person, the person of the Man-God. To-day we will consider 
why and how the Son of God was made man. 

AVhy was the Son of God made man? "To work out our salva- 
tion," is the' short but significant answer of the Council of Nice. "It 
was for our salvation : " these few words suffice to make known to us 
the inestimable dignity of our souls, and the ineffable love of God 
for us. "As by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin 
death ; and so death j^assed upon all men, in whom all have sinned. 
.... And not as it was by one sin, so also is the gift ; for the 
judgment indeed was by one unto condemnation."* Yes, we were 
condemned to eternal perdition, for God must maintain the rights of 

* Romans v ; 12, 16. 



64 SHORT SEE MONS. 

His justice, and He could not leave sin uniDunished. It was, there- 
fore, absolutely necessary, after the sin of our first parents, that 
the human family should be lost forever, and plunged into the tor- 
ments due to sin, or that a sufficient reparation should be offered to 
the Lord. But who could give that satisfaction which the justice 
of God demanded ? Will it be you, sinful man ? Ah ! if this 
reparation depended upon you, most miserable would you be, since 
your sin coidd never be forgiven ! All the reparation you could 
possibly offer to God would never bear any proportion to the injury 
which you had to repair. No, you could never satisfy for your 
sin ; for what is it to satisfy, unless it be to restore to the offended 
person as much honor at least as was taken away by the offence 
which had been committed? Now, what could you do, man, 
when you abandoned God by disobedience ? You committed against 
God an outrage of infinite magnitude. To efface this injury and to 
repair* this outrage, it was necessary for you to present to the Lord 
a satisfaction of infinite A^alue and merit. Could you have done so, 
sinner? You, who had nothing pleasing to offer to the Lord, but 
what was already His on a thousand other titles. Could an angel 
have come and satisfied for man ? No, an angel could not ; even his 
merits are not sufficiently great. Must man, therefore, perish ? Oh, 
no, the mercy of the Lord will not forsake him in his misfortune, 
*' that grace might reign by giving everlasting life through Jesus 
Christ our Lord." God has abundantly showered down His grace 
and His blessing. " He so loved the world that to redeem it. He 
delivered up His only Son."* Sin must be punished, but the sin- 
ner will be saved : behold how mercy and truth have met in Jesus 
Christ ; and it is in Him and through Him that justice and peace 
have kissed. 

God ordains, and His divine Son comes on earth to clothe him- 
self with our nature, to take upon himself all our iniquities, and to 
wash them in His blood, which for our redemption He poured out 
upon the cross, even to the last drop. Thus have we been redeemed 
from hell, our sin effaced, and satisfaction full and entire, nay, even 
superabundant satisfaction offered to the divine justice, by the human 
nature, in the person of Jesus Christ. This divine Saviour was 

* Romans, v. 



BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST. 65 

bruised for our sins, and he was wounded for our iniquities. Be- 
hold, why the Son of God was made man, was conceived by the 
Holy Ghost, and was born of the Virgin Mary. 

When the time had arrived wherein He had resolved to save 
man, " the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee 
called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was 
Joseph, of the house of David : and the name of the virgin was Mary. 
And the angel being come in, said to her : Hail, full of grace, the Lord 
is with thee : blessed art thou among women. And when she had 
heard, she was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself 
what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said 
to her : fear not Mary ; for thou hast found grace with God : 
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth 
a Son ; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and 
shall be called the Son of the most High ; and the Lord God shall 
give unto Him the throne of David His father : and He shall reign 
in the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be 
no end. And Mary said to the angel : How shall this be done, 
because I know not man ? And the angel answering, said to her : The 
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee ; and the power of the most High 
shall over-shadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall 
be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. . . . And Mary said : 
Behold the handmaid of the Lord : be it done to me according to 
thy word. And the angel departed." At the same instant, the 
only Son of God descended from the highest heavens into the chaste 
womb of Mary, invested himself there with our nature, took a body 
and a soul like ours, and became like unto us, sin only excepted. 

Some time after, as Joseph was of the house and of the family 
of David, he went from Galilee in Judea, from the city of Naza- 
reth to the city of David, which was called Bethlehem, there to be 
enrolled with Mary, his spouse, ill obedience to the decree of Augus- 
tus C^sar. While they were there, she found the days of her 
delivery were accomplished, and she brought forth her first born 
son, and wrapping Him in swaddling clothes, laid Him in a man- 
ger, because there there was no room for them in the inn. 

No doubt, my Brethren, you are tempted to say that a place so 
mean and wretched, is by no means suitable to the grandeur and 
majesty of a God. Ah ! the love of our Saviour made choice of 



6Q SHORT SERMONS . 

it, to make expiation for our pride, and to teach us humility. Yet, 
in the bosom of His humiliation, and the depths of His misery, 
this divine Infant was recognized as the sovereign Master of heaven 
and of earth. The heavens open, the angels descend all resplendent 
with light, and sing those magnificent words : " Glory to God in 
the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will." A bright 
star appears in the east, and calls the Gentiles to the cradle of the 
Desired of nations, to the crib wherein reposes the Saviour of the 
world. The wise men follow this star, which proceeds before them, 
they reach Bethlehem, and there prostrating themselves, adore their 
hidden God. Eight days after His birth, this divine Infant was 
circumcised and received the name of Jesus ; after that He was 
presented in the temple to His heavenly Father, and soon, to escape 
the fury of King Herod, was compelled to fly with Mary and Joseph 
into the land of Egypt, where He remained until the death of His 
persecutor. The Gospel preserves almost a profound silence con- 
cerning all the time which elapsed from the return of our divine 
Saviour into His country, until His thirtieth year ; only informing 
us that at the age of twelve years. He was found in the temple, 
astonishing the doctors of the law by the wisdom of His answers, 
and that afterward He dwelt at Nazareth, where He was subject to 
Joseph and to Mary. 

Thus, my Brethren, I have briefly related to you what it is neces- 
sary for you to know concerning the Incarnation, — the birth and 
childhood of the Son of God, made man. It is doubtless enough, 
to penetrate your hearts with the most lively sentiments of grati- 
tude at the sight of the ineffable love which God has manifested for us. 
Instead of overwhelming you and plunging you into eternal misery, 
behold how the Son of God, equal to His Father, the Word divine, 
by whom all things were made, comes into this world, to take upon 
himself our infirmities and our sins, — comes to pay our ransom to 
His heavenly Father, and becomes obedient unto death, even the death 
of the cross, to save our souls. Oh ! how precious is your spul, since, 
to redeem it, God made man did not think He gave too much, 
when He gave His blood and His life. Oh ! you who so heedlessly 
commit sin, who are so indifferent to the interests of your immor- 
tal soul, you who are so cold in the service of God, I beg of you, 
to remember that to redeem you, — the Son of God was made man, — 



THE INFANT SAVIOUR. 67 

and that He suffered tlic most cruel torments, — the most shameful 
death, to expiate your sin and to satisfy supreme justice for you. 
May the remembrance of the great benefit of the Incarnation of the 
Son of God, and of the redemption which He brought to the world, 
never depart from your minds and hearts ! God, my Brethren, has 
conferred so many blessings upon us, let us show ourselves grate- 
ful, and let us return to the Lord love for love, heart for heart; let 
as be His unreservedly and entirely, — let us do well Avhat He re- 
quires, and He will requite us according to His promise, — He will 
receive us into heaven, and make us partakers of His eternal hap- 
piness. — Amen. 



SERMOIi XII. 

THE INFANT SAVIOUR 



" This day is born to you a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. — St. Luke, ii: 11. 

When our divine Saviour was born, "there were in the same coun- 
try shepherds watching, and keeping the night-watches over their 
flocks. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, .... 
and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them : 
Fear not : for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that 
shall be to all the people : For this day is born to you a Saviour, 

who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David And suddenly 

there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising 
God and saying : Glory to God in the highest ; and on earth, peace 
to men of good will. And it came to pass, that after the angels 
departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another : 
Let us go over to Bethlehem ; and let us see this word that is come to 
pass, Avhich the Lord hath showed to us. And they came with haste : 
and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in a manger.* 

* St. Luke: ii. 



68 SHOETSERMONS. 

Let me, my Bretkren, once more ask you to visit the manger wliere 
the Word made flesh reposes, and express to you the thoughts which 
the sight of this divine Infant excites in my heart. This Infant, 
horn of you, Mary ; this Infant so weak, so tender, lying in a 
manger on a little straw, poorer than the child of the poorest man, 
— is the Word of God, the Son of the Eternal, the Son of the Most 
High. Yes ; the Holy of Holies, the King of kings, the Creator 
of heaven and earth, the Lord' of lords, who poises the world in. His 
hand, — is here a helpless bahe, lying in a manger ; divine Jesus, Thou 
art my God, and I adore Thee. You too, my Brethren, should how 
down before the Saviour of the world, and say to Him : Thou art 
our God and we adore Thee. But, since Jesus is the Lord our God, 
the sovereign Master of heaven and earth, let us obey His word, 
keep His commandments, and submit our minds and hearts to His 
adorable doctrine ; let us walk in His footsteps, follow the example 
He has given us, for He wished to be our model. It would be but 
little use for us to prostrate ourselves at the feet of the Son of God, 
and say : Lord ! Lord ! What avail these tokens of adoration, and 
these fine words, if our hearts do not speak ; if we do not adore 
Him in spirit and in truth ? Now, does that man sincerely adore 
the Lord, who despises His law and refuses to comply with His holy 
will ? Certainly not. Ah ! my Brethren, placing our hands upon 
our hearts, let us examine ourselves ! Jesus commands us to love 
our neighbor as ourselves, to do good to those who injure us, to pray 
for those who persecute us ; and is it not true that our hearts and 
souls are filled with enmity and hatred, — that we are unable to bear 
the slightest offence, and seek continually to be revenged ? Is it 
thus that Jesus Christ is to be adored? He says to us : *'Be 
meek and humble of heart;" and we always seek to rule and to be 
exalted ; indignation and anger take possession of us, the moment 
we imagine that some one has failed to show us that respect which 
we imagine to be our due. Is it thus that we ought to adore Jesus 
Christ ? He would have us place all confidence in our Father who 
is in heaven, and who takes care of us ; and yet at the smallest pain or 
the most trifling annoyance, we have the hardihood to complain and 
murmur against divine Providence, as if God had forsaken us. The 
Lord warns us that he who does not carry his cross, and who refuses 
to follow Him, is not worthy of Him : and yet, my Brethren^ we 



THE INFANT S A V I O U K . 69 

are unwilling to mortify our flesh, Avith its desires ; on the contrary, 
we know only how to follow our base propensities and yield to all 
the demands of our vile passions. Where then is our obedience to 
the Lord ? Where is our submission to Jesus Christ, our God, who 
will also be our sovereign Judge? For this divine Infant who 
reposes in that manger, so full of gentleness and sweetness, will, on 
the day of judgment, come borne on the clouds of heaven, full of 
glory and of majesty, surrounded by millions of angels, to judge 
all men, princes and peasants, and render to every one according to 
his works ; to some eternal glory, to others eternal pains. Divine 
Jesus, I adore Thee, my desire is to obey Thee, to follow and imi- 
tate Thee ; be merciful to me, my God ! my Saviour ! 

How many great and sacred things does not the word Saviour 
contain ! What a benefit that which the love of God has granted 
us ! Suppose, my Brethren, some terrible danger threatened our 
lives, — an immense conflagration, a frightful earthquake, or a vast 
inundation. What fear, what awe, what dread would it not cause 
in us ? But suppose that there comes a man who with authority 
controls the fire, the sea and the elements ; who delivers us from 
death and saves us ; who even does more, for he not only preserves 
us, but he heaps favors and riches upon us ; beyond all doubt we 
would love this generous benefactor, we would even kiss his foot- 
prints ! Well, my Brethren, this man so worthy of our love, is 
but a faint image of our divine Saviour. 

We had sinned in Adam, were children of wrath, heaven was 
closed against us ; we should have passed from this vale of tears into 
eternal woe, for we had violated the law of God, and were incapable 
of making satisfaction to His infinite justice. But God loved us, 
and He sent among us His only begotten Son, in whom He was 
well pleased. This divine Emmanuel came, clothed Himself with 
our nature, was loaded with our iniquities, and blotted them out by 
dying for us on the cross. We should have been lost, but Jesus 
has saved us ; we should have been utterly abandoned, and held in 
bondage by the devil ; we should have eternally suffered in the 
gloomy dungeons of hell ; but Jesus has restored us to the friend- 
ship of His Father, — He has made us children of God and heirs of 
the kingdom of heaven. 

No, my Brethren, we will no longer be ungrateful ; we will 



70 SHORT SERMOKS. 

deliglit to recall to mind the blessings wHcli our bountiful Saviour 
has conferred upon us. But if gratitude reign in our hearts, must 
it not show itself in all our conduct, — in our whole lives ? There 
is no one among us who can not sometimes say : be Thou blessed, 
my Jesus, because Thou hast redeemed me, because Thou hast 
saved me ! But it is not words that the Saviom- asks of us, — He 
wishes to have holy works, — worthy fruits of gratitude, and this is 
the only means by which we can be saved. No doubt, our divine 
Lord renders salvation possible, even easy for us, but, to obtain it, 
we must cooperate with the graces which the adorable sacrifice of 
the cross has merited for us ; A^e must render ourselves worthy of 
this great blessing by constantly doing the will of God. Woe be 
to us, if at the end of our lives it be found that we have not 
profited by the blessings which the Saviour brought us in abundance, 
and if we be found wanting in gratitude and fidelity toward our best 
friend and greatest benefactor, who has done every thing that it was 
possible for him to do, to gain our love and win our hearts. 

If the most powerful monarch in the world were to descend from 
his throne and come to dwell among his subjects ; were he to seek 
out by preference the poorest; to speak to them with benignity; to 
sit at their table, eat of their bread ; wish to be accounted their 
friend, their brother; and beg them to bestow upon him these 
endearing names ; who would not love this good king ? Who 
would not be devoted to him, in life and in death ? My Brethren, 
what is this compared with all the King of heaven has done for 
us ? The Word was God, and the Word made Himself flesh, and 
came to dwell among us, poor sinners; He was rich, says the 
Apostle, and He made himself poor, to enrich us; He chose to be born 
of poor parents, in an old, decayed stable ; the first men from whom 
He condescended to receive homage vrere poor shepherds ; for thirty 
years He lived in the house of a poor carpenter, and was occupied 
at the trade of His foster-father ; He afterward had no place whereon 
to rest His head, and He lived only on the alms which some pious 
souls placed in the hands of His disciples ; at last, for us He became 
the Man of Sorrows, died on the cross, shedding even the last drop 
of His blood ; but not imtil He had instituted the adorable sacra- 
ment of his love, — the divine Eucharist ; for He wished to remain 
among those whom He loves, all days, even to the end of time, to 



T II E I N F A N T S A V I O U K . 71 

be their consolation and their strength. Yes, my God, Thou didst 
love us to the end, — even to excess. 

My Brethren, love demands love ; love then your divine Saviour, 
who has so much loved you! Remember the consoling promise 
He has made us: "If you love," He says, "I will come to take 
up my abode in you." But let us also remember that He requires 
that we should prove the sincerity of our love by keeping His 
commandments faithfully : '' He that loves me, keeps my command- 
ments." 

Divine Jesus, Thou art the Son of the Most High, Thou art our 
Lord, our God : from the bottom of our hearts we adore Thee, and 
lay at Thy feet our solemn promise of remaining ever faithful to 
Thee, of obeying Thy divine word, and of walking constantly in 
the ways of Thy commandments. Thou art our Saviour; Thou 
hast died to save us from eternal death ; Thou hast blotted out 
sin and broken down the walls that stood between us and God ; 
Thou hast opened the gates of heaven for us. Be Thou then 
praised, O sweet Jesus, forever and ever ! bountiful God, 
how much hast Thou loved us ! And how have we repaid Thy 
love ? We have spent many years in lukewarmness, in sin and in 
impenitence, lost in the pursuit of earthly things, and forgetful of 
heaven, of the glorious paradise to which Thou invitest us, and 
where Thou awaitest us. Pardon, my Saviour, pardon us, that 
we begin so late to love Thee. Grant that the merits of Thy suf- 
ferings and Thy death may not be lost in our regard. Be our guide, 
our support, and our strength, that nothing may be able to separate 
us from Thee, who art the truth we must hear, the way we must 
follow, and the life wherewith we must be animated, if we would 
enjoy the life and the happiness of heaven. — Amen. 



72 SHORT SERMONS. 

SERMON XIII. 

f OURTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED. 

LIFE OF OUR DIVINE SAVIOUR. 



"Who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." — Apoc- 
alypse, i : 5. 

The heavens have diffused their sweet dews, and the clouds rained 
down the Just One. The earth has opened its bosom and given 
birth to the Saviour. Jesus, the divine Redeemer promised to the 
world when our first parent sinned, has just been born. Angels 
announce to the poor the miraculous birth of the Messias ; kings 
come from the East, prostrate themselves at His feet and adore Him. 
But, behold another king, a cruel tyrant seeks to put Him to death : 
the God made man takes refuge in the land of Egypt, and lives 
in obscurity, until He has attained His thirtieth year. At length 
the important time foretold by the prophet, had come, when the 
divine Saviour was to commence His heavenly mission, to preach 
forgiveness of sins, to invite all men to repentance, to overturn the 
empire of Satan, and to immolate himself for the salvation of the 
world. I would gladly lay before you the entire life of Jesus, but 
I must content myself with recalling to your minds some of its 
principal events. Be sure that you attend well to what I say. 
Jesus leaves His retreat, quits His humble abode at Nazareth, comes 
to the banks of the Jordan, enters the river, and requests John to 
pour on His head the waters of baptism. My Brethren, Jesus did 
not require the baptism of penance, which John gave ; He was not 
obliged to do those penitential acts ; He who had come to blot out 
the sins of the world, could not be himself stained with sin. He 
was the pure and spotless Lamb, and if He chose to receive the 
baptism of John, it was to leave us a noble example of humility, 
and to sanctify the water, which was afterward to efface, in reality, 
our sins in the sacrament of baptism. Yes, Jesus humbled himself, 



LIFE O F OUK DIVINE S A VIO UR. 73 

on the banks of the Joichan, but His Father liastened to glorify 
Him. The heavens open; the Holy Ghost, in the form of a dove, 
descends on our divine Saviour ; and a voice, the voice of God, the 
Father, is heard from the highest heavens, saying : "Thou art my 
beloved Son ; in Thee I am well pleased."* Jesus leaves the banks 
of the Jordan, goes into the desert, fasts for forty days and forty 
nights, and afterward permits the devil to tempt Him. In vain 
does the infernal spirit exert all his malice, employ all his wicked- 
ness, and call in action all his cunning ; he prevails not over the 
spirit and heart of the Saviour of the world, who was soon to crush 
this serpent's head. But this temptation which Jesus suffered in the 
desert, on the eve of undertaking His divine mission, proclaims 
loudly to us that we must be on our guard against the artifices of 
the devil, and watch over ourselves, lest we be surprised by Satan, 
who did not fear attacking even the Holy of Holies ! 

Jesus comes forth from the desert and declares that He is the 
Messias promised to men ; He travels through villages, market- 
places and cities ; He preaches in the temple, on the highways, on 
the sea-shore ; He reveals to the people those sublime truths which 
are the object of our faith ; streams of enchanting eloquence flow 
from His divine lips ; He speaks with authority, He speaks as no 
man ever spoke before ; He shows us, that in God, we have a 
Father, in other men, brothers ; He demonstrates clearly the no- 
thingness of the things of this world ; He tells us the importance 
of salvation, the value of heavenly things, the happiness of the 
elect, and how we may attain that happiness ; He teaches us to sub- 
mit our minds and hearts to the word and the will of God ; to sub- 
due our passions, to practice virtue ; and to support the truth of His 
words He works the most wonderful prodigies, evidences indeed of 
His omnipotence, but no less proofs of His goodness. He speaks, 
and His word puts to flight the whole train of evils that afflict us. 
He speaks, and fever, leprosy, and all infirmities disappear. He 
speaks, and the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak. He 
speaks, and the devil retreats in shame and confusion. He speaks, 
and the grave gives up its victims, and the dead come to life. 

While performing these wonders, Jesus at the same time pre- 

♦ St. Luke, lii : 22. 



74 SHORT SERMONS. 

sents himself to the world, as the most perfect model of the most 
exalted virtues ! Yes, divine Jesus, you alone can say: "I came 
that you may have a model." Jesus was humble : I came, says he, 
to serve, and not to be served. Often did He forbid the miracles 
He wrought to be published, and he imposed silence on the demons, 
who were forced to cry out that He was truly the Son of God. In 
a transport of admiration, the people were about to make Him their 
king, and Jesus retires and hides himself from their pressing solici- 
tation. He asks not His own glory, but that of His Father. Jesus 
was meek and bountiful, — He rejected. He repulsed no one. The 
Apostles wished to drive away the little children that were brought 
to Him for His blessing, and He said to them : " Suffer the little 
children, and forbid them not to come unto me ; for the kingdom of 
heaven is for such; . . . unless you be converted, and become as little 
children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Two 
of His disciples ask that fire should come from the heavens, to destroy 
a city which had refused to receive Him. You know not. He says 
to them, of what spirit you are ; I came not to destroy men, but 
to save them. When they sought to make Him pronounce sen- 
tence of death against the woman taken in adultery; "he that 
is without sin among you," He says, "let him first cast a stone at 
her." He bore with patience the rudeness of the Apostles, and the 
importunities of the sick. What do I say ? He invited them to 
Him. " Come," He says, "come all you that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will refresh you." Jesus was tender and full of 
compassion. He wept for the death of Lazarus, His friend ; He 
shed tears over Jerusalem, and beholding that unfortunate city, 
He exjlaimed : "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have 
gathered together thy children, as the hen gathereth her chickens 
under her wings, and thou wonldst not !" He beheld the tears of 
the poor widow of Nain, and hastened to console her by restoring 
her dead son to life. He received with benignity the sinners who 
desired to turn from their evil ways, and He rebuked only those who 
were hardened in vice ; therefore it was that He denounced so 
severely the proud Pharisee and the hypocritical doctor of the law. 
His sole business was the glory of God and the salvation of men ; and 
He frequently spent whole nights in prayer, after having employed 
*he day in doing good to all, in glorifying His Father, extolling the 



LIFE OF OUR DIVINE SAVIOUR. 76 

happiness of seeing and of loving Him, and in traveling about, on 
foot, under the burning rays of a scorching sun, in quest of His lost 
sheep. He was, in truth, the good shepherd, who laid down His 
life for His flock. He lived in great poverty, and well might He 
say to the Jews: "The birds of the air have their nests, and the fox 
its den, but the Son of Man hath not whereon to lay His head." 
Son of God, Master, and Lord of heaven and earth, Thou wast 
rich, and Thou hast made Thyself poor, to teach us that there are 
no true riches, but the riches of eternity ; and that all the wealth of 
this earth is nothing but vanity. Thou hast said : " Woe to the 
rich! blessed are the poor!'* because Thou wouldst have us know 
that riches too frequently are the fatal thorns which stifle in our 
hearts the good seeds of salvation. 

Behold, my Brethren, what the life our divine Saviour was while 
on earth: "He spent it doing good." How different from the con- 
queror, who estimates his days by his victories, that is to say, by 
the evils which he causes and the sorrow he increases ; — Jesus, on 
the contrary, the meekest of the children of men, reckons his days 
by His blessings. In the towns, the market-places and the cities, 
there are no blind, nor sick, nor lepers, because Jesus of Nazareth 
hath passed that way. Yes, He is the Holy of Holies, and He 
manifested His divinity as the Divinity is accustomed to manifest 
itself by acts of patience, of charity, and of love ; and yet notwith- 
standing all His blessings and wonderful virtues, He was hated by 
the world, by those corrupt men to whom He declared the truth 
which condemned them. Some of them, carnal men, who expected 
a Messias who should subdue the nations of the earth to his empire, 
would not acknowledge the Saviour of Israel, in the person of the 
poor and humble Jesus, whom they called with contempt, ** the son 
of the carpenter." Others, and above all, the Scribes, the Pharisees, 
the priests and the senators persecuted Him, calumniated Him, and 
despised Him, because He censured their pride, their avarice, their 
hypocrisy, and the numberless other vices which made these men 
like whited sepulchres, fair indeed without, but within, full of dead 
mens' bones and of all corruption. They hated Jesus, and yet they 
had nothing wherewith to reproach Him, for they observed silence 
when he publicly challenged them to convict Him of sin. Often 
did they try to surprise Him in His words, but in vain ; He always 



76 SHORTSERMONS. 

detected their malice and ignorance, and confounded them by His 
answers. When the true Israelites, — whose hearts were right, — at 
sight of Jesus exclaimed : Blessed is He who comes to us in the 
name of the Lord, the hatred of the wicked, on hearing those 
praises and acclamations, knew no hounds, and they resolved to put 
to death, the Just One, the Saviour of the world, the Son of God. 
I will speak to you, in our next instruction, of the chalice of sorrows 
which our divine Saviour was compelled to drink, even to the dregs. 
I conclude, my Brethren, by repeating to you the words which 
our Saviour addressed to His disciples: **I come, that you might 
have a model." Yes, Jesus came to redeem us and to be our model. 
Let us therefore act, let us always conduct ourselves, in a manner 
conformable to that which this good Master has taught us. He was 
humble, meek, patient and charitable ; let us therefore be humble, 
meek, patient and charitable. He labored for His Father's glory in 
procuring our salvation; let us cooperate with the glory of God 
by advancing in the practice of good works, and let us do this with 
the more zeal and perseverance, as it is only by following this path, 
that we can arrive at heaven, where Jesus our Saviour reigns, to 
whom be all glory, honor and power forever and ever. — ^Amen. 



SERMON XIY. 

FOURTH ARTICLE OP THE CREED. 

SUFFERINGS OF JESUS CHRIST. 



*' He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."— Philippians, ii : 8 

" And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us : and we 
saw His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father."* 
He came to recall us from the ways of error, — to reestablish us in 

* St. John, i : 14. 



SUFFERINGS OF JESUS CHRIST. 7T 

the path of truth. He has made known to us the God of heaven, 
and in our God He has revealed to us a Father and the most ten- 
der of Fathers. He showed us the worship we ought to pay to 
God, that of the spirit and of the heart. He revealed to us the 
sublime destiny which awaits us in eternity ; that immortal life, 
filled with inexpressible delights, when we shall see God face to face, 
such as He is in himself, and to which we can attain by the practice 
of the truths which He taught and of the precepts He imposed. 
To confirm the truth of His heavenly doctrine, Jesus performed 
great miracles, prodigies of His power, and still more prodigies of 
charity and mercy. He was the most amiable, the meekest, the 
holiest of the children of men, and yet He had enemies. To-day, 
I will speak to you of the chalice of sorrows which they made Him 
drink, even to the dregs. 

Jesus Christ had foretold to His Apostles that He would be deliv- 
ered into the hands of wicked men, — the scribes and chief priests ; 
that they would pronounce against Him the sentence of death; 
that He would be contemned and mocked, scourged and crucified. 
The time has now come when this divine Saviour is about to con- 
summate His sacrifice, and to lay down His life for the salvation of 
the world. Accompanied by His Apostles, He proceeds to the 
place wherein He had appointed to take His last supper, and eat 
His last passover with them. Before, however. He would depart 
out of this life, He wished to leave them the most precious pledge 
of His love and tenderness, — He desired to institute the adorable 
sacrament of His body and blood. He then ''took bread, and 
blessed, and broke, and gave it to His disciples, and said : Take 
ye and eat : this is my body which is given for you. . . . And 
taking the chalice. He gave thanks ; and gave it to them saying : 
Drink ye all of this, for this is my blood of the new testament, 
which shall be shed for many for the remission of sins. Do this in 
commemoration of me."* Many more things He said with the 
the most tender affection to His dear disciples. Seeing them op- 
pressed by a weight of sadness. He consoled them, by promising 
not to leave them orphans, and to send them the Holy Ghost, who 
would be with them all days, and would make them understand all 

» St. Matthew, xxvi, — St. Luke, xxii. 



78 SHOKTSEEMONS. 

that He had taught them. He recommended them to the all-power- 
ful protection of His Father, whom He besought with all His soul 
to preserve them, to defend them against the temptations of the 
enemy, to maintain among them perfect union of hearts, to the end 
that not one of them might he lost, but that all might be with Him 
in the eternal happiness of heaven. We can not doubt, my Breth- 
ren, that it was not for the Apostles alone our bountiful Saviour 
addressed this fervent prayer to His heavenly Father, but also for 
us, who, converted by their preaching, have had the happiness of 
being called to the knowledge of the truth thi-ough the grace of 
Jesus Christ. 

Having sung a hymn, Jesus went with His Apostles to the 
mount of Olives, where He was accustomed to pray. Here He 
represented to Himself all He was about to suffer, during His pain- 
ful passion, and giving way to the feelings of nature, was seized 
with fear and excessive sadness. Thrice did He prostrate himself 
on the ground, and pray: My Father, if it be possible, let this 
chalice pass away from me ; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt. 
A bloody sweat flows in large drops from every part of His body 
to the earth, while reduced almost to His agony, Jesus but perseveres 
the more in prayer. Then an angel from heaven appeared to 
strengthen Him: rising up, Jesus went to His disciples and said to 
them: "Watch ye, and pray that you enter not into temptation. 
Behold, he is at hand that will betray me." As He yet spoke, 
Judas, whom the money of the scribes and Pharisees had seduced, 
and who betrayed His divine Master, arrived, followed by a large 
body of soldiers. But Jesus, knowing all that was about to happen, 
said to them : " Whom seek ye ? they answered, Jesus of Nazareth : 
Jesus says to them, I am He ; at which word they all immediately 
went back and fell to the ground." No donbt, my Brethren, the 
Son of God could have escaped the fury of His enemies, for a word 
from His mouth was enough to prostrate them to the earth ; but 
He loved us. He wished to save us, and to reconcile us to His Father, 
He chose to die. Hence He permitted His enemies to seize His 
divine person, to load Him with chains, to drag Him, as a vile 
criminal, before the tribunal of the high -priest, Caiphas. Lying 
witnesses accused Him, and He spoke not. But when the high- 
priest bid Him, in the name of the living God, say, whether He 



S L F F i: li I N (j! S O K .1 E S U S C II li I S T . 79 

was the Christ, the Son of God, He immediately answered: "Thou 
hast said it. Nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you shall see the 
Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming 
in the clouds of heaven."* At the same time, the high-priest rent 
his garments, saying : He hath blasphemed ; what further need 
have we of witnesses. And they all cried out. He is guilty of 
death. Our divine Lord was then delivered up to insolent wretches, 
who spit in His face, beat Him with their fists and buffetted Him, 
saying, prophesy unto us, Christ: who is it that struck Thee? 
The next day He was conducted to the house of Pontius Pilate, at 
that time the Roman governor of Judea. Calumny was the weapon 
employed by the enemies of Jesus, and here they made a horrible 
use of it, for they durst accuse the God of Sanctity of being 
a rebel to authority, and of having excited the people to sedition. 
Pilate discovered in the malignity of their accusations the shameful 
motive which actuated them. He perceived that all these charges 
were but the ofifspring of envy and hatred ; yet weak man as he was, 
he had not the courage to confound calumny and vindicate oppressed 
innocence. Nevertheless he desired to rescue Jesus from the death 
to which the Jews clamorously sought to make him condemn Him. 
He caused Him, tlierefore, to be scourged, a crown of thorns fastened 
on His head, an old purple robe to be thrown on His shoulders, in 
His hand a reed to be placed as a scepter, and thus arrayed, he 
exhibited Him to the people, hoping that the sight of Jesus reduced 
to this sad state, would excite their compassion. Vain hoiDC ! the 
criminal and cowardly expedient saved not the innocent. With 
greater fury did the Jews cry out : Crucify Him ! Crucify Him ! 
Let His blood be upon us and upon our children ! And Pilate 
gave up Jesus to them to be crucified. To die on the cross was the 
most painful and at the same time the most disgraceful of punish- 
ments: none were condemned to this death but slaves, assassins 
and highway robbers. Hardly had the sentence of death been pro- 
nounced, than the Jews placed upon the shoulders of our divine 
Redeemer the heavy cross on which He was to suffer. Like another 
Isaac, He bore to the summit of Calvary the wood, on which He 
was to immolate himself as a holocaust. The execationers extended 

* St. Matthew, xxxvi : 64. 



80 S n O R T S E K M O N S . 

Him on tlie cross, drove large nails into His hands and feet, and to 
outrage Him still more, tliey crucified Him between two thieves. 
For many hours Jesus Christ remained suspended on the cross, a 
prey to the most excruciating pains, and exposed to the blasphe- 
mous insults of the wicked and abandoned crowd by which He was 
surrounded. At last, crying out with a loud voice, He said : My 
Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit. And bowing down 
His head He expired. To assure themselves of His death, a soldier 
pierced His side with a lance, and immediately there issued from it 
blood and water. Then Joseph of Arimathea hastening to the house 
of Pilate, asked and obtained permission to bury the body of Jesus. 
Aided by Nicodemus, a doctor of the law and a secret disciple of 
the Saviour, he took down Jesus from His cross, and having wrap- 
ped His body in a winding sheet, consigned it to a tomb, in which 
no one had been placed before. The chief priests and Pharisees 
did not forget that our Lord had foretold that He would rise again 
from the dead on the third day. To falsify this prophecy they went 
to the sepulchre, carefully closed it, and setting their seal on the 
stone, placed a body of soldiers there to guard it. All was con- 
summated ; the Scriptures were fulfilled : the Just One was put to 
death, — the devil was vanquished, the justice of God was satisfied, 
man was restored to the friendship of his Maker, heaven was open- 
ed, and it was now possible for man to attain it, for Jesus, the Son 
of God, had died for us on the cross. 

Oh ! how great and how terrible must be the injury offered to God 
by mortal sin, since, to expiate it. He willed that His only Son 
should suffer such excruciating tortures ! How great was the love of 
Jesus for men ! For us, my Brethren, to cleanse us from our sins, He 
suffered so much ! He suffered death, even the death of the cross ! 

My Brethren, let us never cease to love this bountiful Saviour, 
Avho has so tenderly loved us. And let us never commit sin, for it 
is the origin of all our evils, and the cause of all the sufferings of the 
Son of God. He that commits sin becomes the slave of sin, and 
hates his own soul, — that soul so precious, to redeem which, the 
Son of God did not think it too much to shed the last drop of His 
blood ! Whenever, then, temptation assails you, whenever yon 
perceive that sin is about to enter your heart, cast a glance at your 
Saviour, dying on His cross, and say to yourselves : "Ah! Jesus 



KESUiiliECTlO^' OF JKSUS CIUilST. 81 

Christ died on the cross for me, — to wash out my iniquities, and 
cleanse me from my sins. How can I offend Him again, and be so 
ungrateful, and at the same time so senseless, as to lose the fruits of 
the sufferings and the death of my God! No, I will ratlier die, 
than sin again : death in this case will be to me a great gain ; it 
will be the beginning of life, — of eternal life, — when I shall see and 
adore my Saviour and my God for endless ages." Yes, my Breth- 
ren, in times of temptation call to mind what your soul has cost, — 
the blood of a God; see the enormity of sin, — it nails Jesus to the 
cross, it crucifies the only begotten Son of God. There was needed 
the blood of a God to open heaven for you, and mortal sin would 
clovse it against you once more. Be you then faithful, — sin no more, 
and God will be your reward exceedingly great for all eternity. — 
Amen. 



SERMOX XV. 

FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED. 

RESURIIECTION OF JESUS CHRIST 



"He descended into hell ; the third day He rose again from the dead." — Apos- 
tles' Ceeed. 

Having spent on this earth about thirty years of a most pure 
and holy life, replete with every good work, Jesus our SavicJur, 
became a victim of the envy and hatred of the Jews, suffered the 
most painful and excruciating torments at their hands, and at last 
died on a cross between two thieves. JHe gave His life to redeem 
us from eternal death ; He died because He loved us. Behold, my 
Brethren, the grand and consoling truths which made the subject of 
our last instruction. To-day I intend to explain the fifth article of 
the Apostles' Creed : "He descended into hell; the third day He 
rose again from the dead." Be attentive, I beg of you. When our 
Lord Jesus Christ die<l on the cross, His soul was separated from 



82 SHORT SERMONS. 

His body, but the divinity remained united to both. The body was 
placed in a tomb, and the soul descended into hell. What is this 
place which the Scriptures designate by the name of hell, to which 
the Son of God descended after His death ? It signifies what the 
word expresses, namely, that it is a lower place and under the earth : 
It is in *'the lower parts of the earth."* To this place it was, as 
St. Paul teaches us in express terms, that our loving Lord did not 
disdain to descend, before He ascended into heaven and took pos- 
session of His glory. 

But there are three subterraneous abodes, to which the souls of 
men descended who died before the coming of the Christ. Now, 
which of those three was it that was filled with joy at His divine 
presence ? Did He go into the hell of the damned, — into that dark 
and hideous prison, where the wicked are buried, and where they 
must forever endure the torments they have deserved ? It was 
not to this abode of darkness and of horrors, that our divine Re- 
deemer went; surely not; the Son of God did not descend into 
those frightful dungeons, where all order is overturned, and from 
which there is no redemption. The second hell is purgatory, — an 
abode of pains and sufferings, but of temporal and transitory pains. 
There the souls of the just, stained with even the slightest imper- 
fection, are cleansed, like gold in the crucible, until they are entirely 
purified. But it was not either to this place that our divine Lord 
went. And why ? because, though these souls were dear to Jesus, 
for they were holy, nevertheless, they were not yet purified and 
holy enough to be found worthy of enjoying the vision and presence 
of their God. The third subterraneous abode which the Scriptures 
call by the name of hell, is Limbo. Here it was that the just and 
the saints of the Old Testament, who died before the coming of 
Jesus Christ, were detained until He had opened the gates of 
heaven for them. For before the coming of Jesus Christ, heaven 
was closed to men, and Jesus alone by His death could open it for 
them. Not Abel the just, nor Abraham, the father of the faithful, 
nor the Patriarchs could be admitted. Not Moses, the mediator of 
the old law ; nor Job, who according to the judgment of God him- 
self, had not his equal on earth ; nor John the Baptist, the greatest 

* Ephesians, iv : 9. 



RKSUKliECTION OF J E S US C II K IS T . 83 

of the children of men ; in a Avord, no one could attain the glory 
of heaven, before the Son of God had opened the way by His death. 

Limbo was a place of rest, but yet a place of incomplete rest ; for 
complete rest can be enjoyed only in the bosom and possession of 
God. It was a place of light, bnt of light not yet perfect ; this can 
only be found in the vision of God. It was a paradise, compared 
to the hell of the damned ; for, if they did not as yet possess God, 
at least they had a full assurance of one day possessing Him ; and 
Job could there repeat to the other holy souls : **I know that my 
Redeemer liveth, and that in my flesh and with my eyes I will see 
Him." It was here, indeed, that the Saviour of the world descended 
after His death, to console those souls so holy, and so dear to His 
heart. How great the joy which must have filled the hearts of 
these saints, when at last they saw appear their divine Liberator, 
Him whom they had so long expected ; Him, by faith in whom they 
had wrought out their salvation, the hope of whose coming was 
their only consolation, whose morning dawn had been seen by some 
among them, and through them announced to the world ! Yes, 
deep and very great was their joy ; profound their gratitude, v\^hen 
they beheld this bountiful Saviour, who, not content with giving 
His life for them, had deigned to descend into the bosom of the 
earth to announce to them in person, that He had vanquished hell, — 
that the work of their redemption was accomplished, — that He had 
come to free them from their prisons, and conduct them to the hap- 
piness of heaven. 

Our divine Lord did not remain long in Limbo. He had predic- 
ted that He would rise again the third day after death. He had said 
to His Apostles: "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem ; and all things 
shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concern- 
ing the Son of man. For He shall be delivered to the Gentiles, 
and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon : And after they 
have scourged Him, they will put Him to death, and the third day 
He shall rise again."* No, the Lord would not allow His "holy 
One to see corruption, nor leave His soul in hell."f It was Jesus 
who said by the mouth of the prophet: "O death, I will be thy 
death ; hell, I will be thy bite. "J In vain did they seal the stone 

* St. Luke, xviii : 31—34. t Psalms xv : 10. + Osee, xiii : 14. 



84 SHOKT SERMONS. 

wHch closed the sepulchre, and place a guard around it. Jesus rises 
and comes forth from the tomb without removing the stone. A 
violent earthquake follows, and an angel descends from heaven, rolls 
back the stone, and seats himself thereon. His garments are white 
as snow, and His countenance is as lightning. So frightened are 
the guards, that they become as dead men. Pious women come to 
embalm the body of Jesus ; they enter the sepulchre, but not finding 
the Saviour there, hasten to inform Peter and John. They say to 
them : ** They have taken away the Lord, and we know not where 
they have put Him." The two Apostles run to the tomb, but find 
nothing in it, except the linen cloths and the napkin that had been 
about His head. But behold now Jesus appears to Magdalene, — 
and angels speak to these holy women, whose faith had brought them 
to the grave of their divine Master : ** Fear not you : for I know 
that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here ; for He has 
risen, as He said." Then they leave the sepulchre, seized with fear 
yet transported with joy. At the same time Jesus appears to them. 
They cast themselves at His feet and adore Him ; then Jesus says 
to them : " Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee ; there they 
shall see me."* The pious women hasten to bear the glad tidings 
to the disciples ; but these are unwilling to believe their words. No 
doubt, they ardently desired the resurrection of their divine Master, 
yet they fear too much that He had not risen, to believe easily that 
He had. While the Saviour is thus giving proofs of His resurrec- 
tion, the guards hasten to relate the fact to the leading men of the 
synagogue, who give them large sums of money to induce them to 
conceal the truth. They bribe them to say, that they had fallen 
asleep, and that during their sleep, the disciples came and stole 
away the body of their Master. It was a vain expedient, for who 
can receive the testimony of a sleeping witness ? How senseless it 
was for the Jews to credit this falsehood ? If the guards watched, 
why did they not prevent the body of Jesus from being removed? 
If they were asleep, how could they see it taken away ? and if they 
saw nothing, of what avail was their testimony ? No, the Son of 
God did not remain among the dead ; He has risen from death, and 
to prove it. He has shown himself to His Apostles and to more than 

* St. Matthew, xxviii: 10. 



RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. 85 

five hundred of His disciples together; He conversed with them, 
and He ate and drank with them. In testimony of His resurrection, 
the Apostles have shed their blood and given their lives. This is 
evidence that no one can refuse to admit. 

Jesus, our Saviour, rose gloriously from the grave, and His resur- 
rection assures us, that one day we too shall rise from the dead : 
" He was the first born from among the dead," and He will be fol- 
lowed by His servants. The same divine power that gave life to 
the body of Jesus, will also unite our souls once more to our bodies, 
and they will assume a new life. O ye sinners, who live without 
remorse in sin, how profound is the sleep of your conscience ! O, 
ye vain worldlings, who labor only for your bodies, who continually 
indulge them, and grant them every thing which they desire, to the 
detriment of your immortal souls, which you neglect, — know ye 
that a day will come, when you will rise forth alive from the bosom 
of the grave, and that, if sin reign in you until death, and if death 
overtake you in impenitence, you will be tormented, both body and 
soul, for all eternity ! But you, ye just and pious souls, who suffer in 
poverty and contempt, whom sorrow pursues and misery oppresses 
with all its rigor, but who love your God, who are submissive to 
His adorable will, and receive with resignation the cross He sends 
you, console yourselves, for your Redeemer liveth ; He hath risen ; 
and hereafter the day will come when you too will rise from the 
corruption of the tomb, to live the life of the blessed in the para- 
dise of God, where your divine Saviour hath preceded you, where 
He is your mediator with His Father, and where He ceases not con- 
tinually to intercede in your behalf. — Amen. 



86 SHORT SERMONS. 



SEKMON XVI. 

SIXTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED. 

ASCENSION OF JESUS CHRIST 



"He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father 
Almighty." — Apostles' Creed. 

The only Son of Grod was made man, and became like unto us 
in all things, sin alone excepted. He died on the cross for the sal- 
vation of the world. His body was placed in a tomb ; His soul 
descended into Limbo to deliver the holy souls who were waiting 
there until the blood of our Saviour should wash away and blot out 
the sins of the world ; which was necessary before they could enter 
into glory. The third day after the painful and cruel torments of 
the cross, Christ came forth gloriously from the grave, as He had 
foretold. Behold, my Brethren, what I explained to you in my 
last instruction. Now, let us tm-n our attention to the sixth article 
of our creed, an article which will make the subject of this day's 
instruction. 

Christ rises from the dead, ascends into heaven, and seats himself 
at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. Listen, my Breth- 
ren, to the account which the Evangelist St. Luke furnishes us, 
concerning the wonderful Ascension of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, 
into heaven. After His resurrection, our divine Kedeemer remained 
during forty days on earth, showing himself frequently to His 
Apostles and disciples, instructing them in many very important 
things ; such as the establishment of His Church, the propagation 
of the Gospel, all that regarded the reign of God in the hearts of 
men, and every thing calculated to bring souls to the happiness of 
heaven. At last, when all the Apostles and disciples were assem- 
bled at Jerusalem, Jesus appears to them for the last time. He 
takes a seat at their table, eats and drinks with them. During the 



ASCENSION OF JESUS CHRIST. 87 

repast, He reproaches them, but with great benignity, for their 
want of faith in His resurrection, of which He had now come to 
give them still another evident and palpable proof ; He imposes 
upon them the mission of preaching His word to every creature, 
and commands them to travel the whole world, propagating His 
religion and spreading His divine doctrine among all nations. To 
inspire them with courage and penetrate their hearts with a gener- 
ous confidence, He bestows upon them the divine poAver of work- 
ing miracles, thus to give greater force to the truths which they 
were to announce, and which the world, converted at the sight of 
these prodigies of the omnipotence of God, might embrace and 
practice. 

Our divine Lord then rises, and, followed by His Apostles and 
disciples, goes out from the city, and proceeds to the mount of 
Olives. There His agony had commenced; thence too, will He take 
His flight into glory. He gives His Apostles and disciples the most 
consoling assurance that He would never cease to protect them ; 
recommends them to remain at Jerusalem, until they should receive 
the Holy Ghost, the Comforter whom He had promised to send 
them ; He speaks to them with all the tenderness of a father address- 
ing his children, whom he is about to leave; raises His hand, 
blesses them, recommends them to the favor and protection of His 
heavenly Father ; and then, full of glory and majesty, elevates him- 
self in the air, and mounts gradually toward heaven. For some 
time the Apostles gaze on the form of their departing Master ; but 
at length, the clouds of heaven conceal Him from their view. 
Jesus continues His ascent into heaven, seats himself at the right 
hand of the Almighty Father, to whom He is perfectly equal, and 
from whom He receives, as man, the first place in heaven, above 
every creature. 

Jesus ascends into heaven ; He goes to take possession of the 
glory which was due to Him. He had come down from the bosom 
of His Father, to take, on earth, the form of a slave, to live in 
poverty and disgrace, — to die in torments, to pour out His blood 
on the cross for the redemption of the human race. All has been 
consummated, the mission of the Man-God has been accomplished, 
and behold, ''from the hight of the cross. He shall draw all unto 
Him." The Son of man has crushed the serpent's head ; sin has 



88 SHORT SERMONS. 

"been blotted out ; the empire of tlie devil annihilated ; error checked 
and light diffused ; and the God of heaven and earth shall be adored 
in spirit and in tnith. Yes, Jesus hath glorified His Father among 
men, it was just that He should receive from His Father infinite 
glory in the eternal mansions. But before quitting the earth, He 
said to ns : ** Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; 
believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many man- 
sions ... I go to prepare a place for you. And if I shall go, and 
prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to 
myself; that where I am, you also may be."* 

Christ ascended into heaven, to prepare a place for us there ; He 
himself has said : ** Where I am, you also may be." A day will 
come, when it will be permitted us to participate in the glory of our 
divine Saviour. It will be so if we place ourselves among the num- 
ber of the true servants of Jesus Christ ; if we preserve in our hearts 
and manifest in our conduct, the holy commandments which He 
has given us ; if, in fine, we endeavor to render ourselves like to 
Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our model. **A faithful saying,*' 
says St. Paul to Timothy; ''if we be dead with Christ, we shall 
live also with Him. If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign 
with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us."f Where 
Christ is, there also must His servants be. 

O ! divine Jesus, let me dwell with Thee in eternity, in the taber- 
nacles of Thy Father ! But, my Saviour, I am so weak, and I 
fall into so many sins ! Must not the splendor of Thy glory over- 
whelm the unhappy sinner, who would dare aspire to the happiness 
of heaven? This fear would fill my soul with desolation, did I not 
know that Thou hast ascended into heaven to be our advocate and 
mediator with Thy Father. "My little children," writes St. John 
to the first Christians; "these things I write to you, that you may 
not sin. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, 
Jesus Christ, the Just. And He is the propitiation for our sins. "J 

Yes, my Brethren, Jesus Christ is our advocate in heaven ; He 
who destroyed sin, is our Mediator with God; He is there under 
the eyes of His Father, as a constant victim and perpetual sacrifice 

* St. John, xiv : 1, 2, 3. t 2 Timothy, ii : 1,2. 

* 1 Epistle of St. John, ii : 1,2. 



ASCENSION OF JESUS CHRIST. 89 

for our sins. Should not this saving truth fill our souls with sweet 
and consoling hope ! Jesus intercedes for us ! God the Father did 
not spare His only Son, but delivered Him up for us, and how, after 
having betowed upon us this gift, can He refuse us any thing which 
this divine Saviour asks for us ? Oh ! we have an advocate whose 
influence over the heart of God is infinite, we can, therefore, reach 
heaven. 

My Brethren, heaven is our country, and it is there only we can 
find happiness. We are only passengers on earth, and we see here 
only empty baubles, vanities, deceptions and sufferings. Let us 
not allow our hearts to be foolishly attached to the things of this 
world ; let us remember that we live not for time, but for eternity. 
Let us seek the things that are in heaven, where Jesus Christ sitteth 
at the right hand of God ; let us taste the things that are of heaven, 
and not the things of earth. When Jesus Christ shall appear. He 
who is our life, we too shall appear with Him in glory, if we walk 
in His footsteps, follow the example He has given us, obey the 
rules and precepts which He has imposed upon us, and love God 
and our neighbor as He has commanded. We shall reap in eternity 
what we have sown in time. Let us, therefore, keep our hearts 
raised up to heaven ; let us have God always before our eyes, let us 
glorify Him, by advancing in the practice of good works, and then 
as vigilant and faithful servants, we shall deserve to ascend to the 
mansions of our divine Master. — Amen. 



8 



90 SHORT SERMONS 



SERMON XYII. 

SIXTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.— (continued.) 

ON HEAVEN. 



** I will be thy reward exceedingly great." — Genesis. 

Such, my Brethren, were the magnificent words by which the 
Lord encouraged the fidelity and supported the obedience of His 
servant Abraham. '* I will be thy reward exceedingly great:" this 
admirable promise, the Lord deigns to make to all His children ; 
very often He calls it to our recollection by the inspirations of His 
Holy Spirit, who searches the recesses of our hearts, and excites us 
to the practice of virtue ; yet more frequently by the mouth of His 
ministers, who cease not to exhort us to do what God commands, 
and to avoid what He prohibits. God wishes to make us happy ; 
He desires that we become citizens of heaven ; He wishes to be our 
reward exceedingly great ; but He requires that we render ourselves 
worthy of it. What is the happiness of Heaven, and what must be 
done to obtain it ? Here, my Brethren, is almost interesting matter. 
Do not refuse your attention. " Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
world." 

Has Heaven been created for us ? Were we made for Heaven ? 
Yes, my Brethren, it was for no other creatures, but angels and 
men, that the hand of the Eternal has raised up the magnificent 
palace of Heaven, and created a paradise of inexhaustible delights. 
The earth is only a place of exile ; we have here no lasting city ; 
our country is in Heaven. We will one day reach it ; we will be 
fellow citizens with the angels, and God will be our reward, our 
happiness, our recompense exceedingly great, in that kingdom which 
He has prepared for us from the beginning. But, my Brethren, 
what is this kingdom to which we are called ? As long as our soul 



ON HEAVEN. 91 

is inclosed within the prison of this mortal flesh, all the powers of 
the mind united are unable to penetrate the habitation of God, — 
they can never comprehend the extent of the happiness which the 
saints there drink in deep draughts, — for this happiness is ineffable. 
St. Paul was taken up to the third Heaven and saw the mysteries 
of God : but returning to the earth he was incapable of telling 
what he saw, — he could only give utterance to his astonishment in 
these words: *'The eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath 
it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared 
for them that love Him."* I can not, therefore, my Brethren, un- 
fold before your eyes what remains hidden in the kingdom of Hea- 
ven, and I must confine myself with relating to you what our faith 
teaches us about this land of happiness. Faith teaches us, that in 
Heaven, all the desires of man will be satisfied ; all his wishes will 
be accomplished ; whatever he desires, he will enjoy ; every thing 
he wishes to know, he will see, and comprehend ; whatever he is 
capable of loving, he will possess; he will be forever infinitely 
happy. The happiness and prosperity which we may enjoy in this 
life, are always attended with apprehensions. In fact, we fear that 
we will be deprived of them. To-day, you enjoy sound and perfect 
health ; but may not sickness be your lot to-morrow ? You float 
along the current of worldly happiness, — you abound in riches ; but 
soon, perhaps, you will be plunged into the deepest misery. You 
occupy a prominent position in the world, — you shine among men ; 
yet the day will come, perhaps, when you will be driven into obscu- 
rity, and the world will be to you, as if you had never known it. 
Every thing on earth is changeable ; but in Heaven, all is perma- 
nent and indestructible, and the place which the predestined soul 
will occupy on its entering there, will be its own, for all eternity. 
A holy soul can neither be supplanted, nor robbed of the happiness 
to which God has called it. In Heaven, there is neither pain, nor 
solicitude, nor fear, nor care, for these have passed away, and the 
felicity of the holy elect is eternal and perfect. 

Whatever may be the happiness of man on earth, however great 
it may be, it is allowed to be of the shortest duration. Death will 
always be powerful enough to say to the fortunate ones of this life : 

« 1 Corinthians, ii : 9. 



92 SIIORTSERMONS. 

Your happiness will come so far and no further, — it can not extend 
beyond those limits, — nor beyond the time fixed by the decree of 
God. Your death-knell will soon ring, and the world will soon 
seize upon all that you possess. At your departure out of this life, 
you will take nothing but a winding-sheet, which will be wrapped 
around your body. But, in Heaven, the soul has a certainty that 
its happiness will never have an end. Ages may roll by, but they 
will never take from it one instant of its unutterable felicity. For 
eternity, it will enjoy the vision and possession of its Grod, from 
whom torrents of delights will flow upon it for ever. How numer- 
ous soever be the pleasures of man in this world, however multiplied 
his joys, he can not possess them all at once, — ^he can not relish 
them all at the same time. He may enjoy one pleasure now, and 
another at a future time ; but let him vary them as much as ever he 
can, he will soon get tired and disgusted with them. It is not so 
with the joys of Heaven; they are continual, inexhaustible, and all 
enjoyed together. They pour into the souls of the elect delights 
ever new, yet ever the same. Satiety never approaches them, and 
the blessed in Heaven can at all times say : My soul superabounds 
with joy in the Lord, for He is my reward exceedingly great. 

holy Sion, how beautiful thou art, and how wonderful ! holy 
light of faith, what great things thou hast shown us, and bidden 
us hope for, in exchange for the deceitful pleasures of this fleeting 
world ! divine faith, thou hast assured us that Heaven was made 
for us, — that we were created for Heaven. The day, therefore, will 
come, when we shall take our departure from this vain and fleeting 
world, to enter the house of eternity, to be seated in the habitation 
of God, in the joy of our Lord : then we shall see God face to face, 
and we shall know Him, as we are known by Him ; then we shall 
be put in possession of a happiness without end, and of delights 
unspeakable and eternal ; then we shall be forever fixed in the king- 
dom of God, who is all goodness and all charity, — who created, 
loved and redeemed us. Behold the magnificent inheritance which 
Thou hast prepared for us, divine Saviour ! Such the adorable 
promise which Thou hast made us, and which Thou hast sealed by 
Thy doath and by the effusion of Thy blood on the cross. But this 
crown of immortality which awaits us in Heaven, my Brethren, 
must be merited by us, — we must render ourselves worthy of it. 



O N II E A V E N . 93 

What then shouLl we do to obtain it ? From our earliest .youth, 
religion placed in our hands a little hook which contains an abridg- 
ment of all that it teaches ; and we learned from it, that the road 
which leads us to Heaven, is the love of God and the observance of 
His holy commandments. To attain Heaven then, it is necessary to 
love God. Ah ! my Brethren, is it so difficult a thing to love God ? 
No ; it is only necessary to have a grateful heart. You can love 
God ; and why not love the only being who deserves to be infinitely 
loved, because the only one infinitely perfect ? Why will you not 
love your Father, your brother, your most generous benefactor ? 
He created you, and you have forgotten this blessing ; instead of 
striking you with eternal death, when you had sinned, He did not 
cease to take pity upon you, — He redeemed you, and the blood 
which flowed from His heart on the cross, blotted out the sentence 
of condemnation, which sin had fixed on your forehead, and made 
you once more pure and spotless. He replaced you on the road to 
happiness, and gave you back once more His love. Oh, preserve 
this precious love, and give Him back yours in return : love God 
with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with all your mind 
and all 3'our strength. Remember, my Brethren, that the Holy 
Ghost declares that he who loves not God, is dead ; for being de- 
prived of His grace, he is dead to eternal life ; while, on the contrary, 
he is full of life who gives to God love for love, and heart for heart. 
Our divine Saviour promises to come and establish His dwelling in 
the bosom of the man who loves Him. He dwells in me, such are 
His words, and I dwell in him, and he shall have eternal life. 

To obtain Heaven, it is necessary to serve God and keep His 
commandments. If you love God sincerely, you will submit to 
His adorable law ; you will be happy in accomplishing His divine 
will. It is the saying of eternal truth, my Brethren, that he who 
loves God wull keep His commandments. The yoke of the Lord is 
sweet and light ; it is not hard to be borne ; besides, we can do all 
things when supported and fortified by divine grace, which is never 
wanting to him who asks it, from the bottom of his heart. 

If you desire then to obtain Heaven, love God ; if you wish to 
have part in the happiness of the saints, keep the commandments, — 
be faithful. But we are so weak ! How often have we resolved to 
walk in the wav of the commandments, and how often have we 



94 S H O R T S E E M O N S . 

forgotten our resolutions and offended tlie Lord ! Nevertheless, He 
himself has said, that nothing defiled shall ever enter the kingdom 
of Heaven. Yes, my Brethren, God has spoken this awful word, 
but He has added, that He will not reject the humble and contrite 
of heart: *'Oome tome all you that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will refresh you.'* He has even said that He is the bread of 
life, that gives strength and the grace of perseverance. Come, there- 
fore, with contrition, but with confidence also, to the feet of your 
humble Saviour, in the tribunal of His mercy, and your sins will 
be forgiven. Come with eagerness, with ardor, with love, to the 
holy table, where God himself will be your food ; and by the aid of 
this living bread, and joining Avith it the holy exercise of prayer, 
which obtains every thing from the goodness of the celestial Father, 
you will become firm, unshaken in the holy ways of the saints; 
you will advance even to the mountain of the Lord, you will be 
elevated even to Heaven, and God will be your reward exceedingly 
great for all eternity.— Amen. 



SERMON XYIII. 

SEVENTH AKTICLE OF THE CREED. 

GENERAL JUDGMENT. 



" For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." — 2 Corinthians, 
v: 10. 

Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus Christ ascended into 
heaven : seated at the right hand of God, the Father, He took pos- 
session of the glory which He had merited by His sufferings and 
His painful death on the cross ! He went to prepare our place in 
the abode of happiness, and to be our advocate with God, His 
Father, before whom He perpetually intercedes in our favor. Hence 



GENERAL JUDGMENT. 95 

the angels said to the Apostles, it will be from the right hand of 
God the Father, that Jesus will return to the earth, at the end of 
time, to judge the living and the dead. It is this second coming 
of our Saviour that I will speak about to-day, in explaining the 
seventh article of our creed. 

What do the words of the seventh article of the creed signify ? 
" From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead?" 
They signify that we acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Supreme 
Judge ; that we believe He will come again on earth at the end of 
time ; that on the last day of the world. He will descend from the 
highest heavens to judge all men, and render to each one according 
to his works. It is true, my Brethren, as our faith teaches us, that 
immediately after death, we will each undergo a particular judg- 
ment before God, and that our doom from that time will be fixed 
forever, according to the works we have done during life ; but see, 
the soul, at this moment, stands alone in the presence of its God ; 
upon it alone the sentence of the sovereign Judge is pronounced; 
there is none but is to be then rewarded or punished. Therefore, 
is it, that there will be a second Judgment, so that all humanity may 
appear before the tribunal of God, to be rewarded or punished both 
in soul and body. It is in fact but just, that the body should 
have in eternity, the same doom as the soul to which it had been 
united in time, as it had served as the instrument of the soul, and 
cooperated with it in good and evil doing during its pilgrimage in 
this world. 

This general and universal Judgment will be preceded by terrible 
events, as the Holy Scriptures have foretold many ages ago. All 
the elements will be in frightful confusion ; dreadful signs will be 
seen in the heavens, and on earth, which will be shaken even to its 
very foundation. In many places it will open, and yawning abysses 
will appear. The sea will be in fearful agitation, — threatening the 
earth, and seeming to engulf it beneath its waves. 

The sun will lose its brightness, and darkness will cover its face ; 
the moon and the stars will seem to fall from the heavens ; a sub- 
terraneous fire will burst out in numberless places, and every living 
thing w^ill be consumed and reduced to ashes. 

These terrible events being accomplished, and the world's agony 
being by them announced, behold the angel of the Lord, in a strong 



96 SHORT SERMONS. 

and powerful voice wliicli shall awaken tlie dead moldering in their 
graves, and summon them before the tribunal of God, is heard 
crying out : "Arise ye dead, and come to Judgment." In an instant, 
from the east to the west, from the north to the south, rise from 
the corruption of the tomb all the generations of men that have lived 
on the earth from the commencement of time till the last day, and 
the power of God will transport them into the valley of Judgment. 
But what a difference between these resuscitated bodies. The just 
will arise, and their bodies will appear brilliant, glorious and radi- 
ant. The reprobate will also arise, but how deformed, and how 
hideous ! Ah ! all the shame and all the deformity of sin will 
cover their bodies, and render them most frightful and most disgust- 
ing. Great and sweet will be the joy which will replenish the 
souls of the just, when they shall behold their bodies so magnifi- 
cently glorified for the part they took in the good works performed 
by these holy souls while they were inclosed in the prison of their 
mortal flesh ! But how terrible will be the grief of the reprobate ; 
how horrible the despair of these lost souls, when they shall be 
forced once more to unite with their hideous bodies, together to 
undergo their eternal punishment in the fire kindled by the justice 
of an insulted God ! 

Behold, therefore, all mankind assembled in the valley of Josa- 
phat : heaven opens, and Jesus, the Saviour appears on a brilliant 
cloud, full of glory and majesty, invested with sovereign power. 
Millions of bright angels surround His throne, while some pre- 
cede Him, bearing aloft the cross, the sacred emblem of our re- 
demption, upon which our sins were expiate d ; that cross, whence 
pardon descended upon the world abundantly sufficient for all, but 
of which, alas ! all would not profit. Then a strict examination of 
conscience takes place, which can not last long before the eyes of a 
God who has seen every thing, and can make every thing manifest 
in the twinkling of an eye. As if in an immense mirror, at one 
glance are seen all the crimes and all the good deeds of this in- 
numerable multitude. Each of the assembled multitude of men 
sees every thing in himself and in all others. Then the angels 
commence the separation of the good from the bad, — of the living 
from the dead. 

On the right they set the living, that is to say, the just, who lived 



G E N E li A L JUDGMENT. 97 

the life of grace and liolinoss ; on the left, the dead, sinners who are 
dead to grace and happiness. Alas, what a sad separation, — how 
painfully it strikes upon the heart ! The husband torn from the 
wife, — one placed on the right, the other on the left ; the father and 
the mother called to happiness, and their children condemned ; the 
brother chosen, the sister rejected ; friends that dm-ing life were 
inseparable, now become, one a glorious saint, the other a hideous 
demon. The j)Oor slave and the servant, the laborer and the 
mechanic, despised during their mortal lives, now take their seats 
on the right, while their powerful oppressors, the rich, the proud, 
the avaricious and sordid masters groan in sorrow on the left ! 
With shame on their foreheads, pain in their souls, and despair in 
their hearts, they utter the mournful cry : ye mountains, fall upon 
us ! crush us, bury us ; wrest us from this sorrow which consumes 
us, from this remorse which devours us. "It is a dreadful thing to 
fall into the hands of the living God.* How hideous thou art, 
sin ! misery, how terrible ! 

At last, our divine Redeemer turns toward the just, and from 
his lips flow forth the delightful words: " Come, ye blessed of my 
Father, possess the kingdom which was prepared for you from 
the foundation of the world," and which your virtuous and pni- 
dent life has merited. It is no longer to the cross and to suffer- 
ings that I call you ; it is not now to struggles and to contests that 
I invite you ; I come to establish you in sovereign repose ; I call 
you to the delights of heaven ; you shall enjoy happiness, and this 
happiness shall never have an end ; I wish to be no longer separated 
from you, and you shall be with me for everlasting ages. 

The eyes of the sovereign Judge are now cast on the reprobate, 
and strikes them with terror. The anathema issues from His 
mouth: ** Depart from me, ye cursed," depart "into everlasting 
fire." During life T offered you powerful means of salvation ; and 
you have despised them. How often, by the mouths of my 
preachers and confessors, have I exhorted you to be converted, and 
do penance, — and you would not heed me. How many examples of 
virtue and piety did I set before you in the lives of my saints, and 
you would not follow them ! Where are your good works ! You 

* Hebrew, x : 31 . 



98 S II O K T S E R M O N S . 

knew they were required of you, — yet I see only vices, disorders 
and crimes ! I asked the love of your hearts, and you have given 
me only coldness, indifference and contempt ! I asked from you 
charity for your brethren, whom I identified with myself, and com- 
manded you to do unto them as you would do unto me ; and for 
them and for me you have had no charity ; you had only selfishness, 
hard-heartedness and avarice! ** Depart from me, ye cursed, into 
everlasting fire." The earth opens, and flames burst forth from the 
chasm, — headlong the reprobate tumble into hell, thrust in by the 
hands of demons, to begin their eternal sorrow. In hell there is no 
grace, — there, redemption is no more possible ; the suiferings of the 
damned will never have an end ; time will never bring them con- 
solation, for time is now no more, and the clock of hell points to 
no hour, — its dial is encircled with the v/ord Eternity ! 

On the right of the supreme Judge, a song of triumph is heard : 
Glory and honor to our bountiful and powerful God, whom we have 
loved and served ! Glory and honor to the Lamb that was slain, 
and who possessed all our love ! Holy, holy, holy, the God of 
heaven and earth, to whom be all glory and all honor, forever and 
forever. The elect move in a band toward the eternal mansions : 
they follow Jesus into glory, as they had followed Him in virtue 
and in bearing the cross. The gates of paradise are thrown open, 
the glory of heaven encompasses the children of God, and ineffable 
delights fill their hearts with ecstatic bliss ! They shall be happy 
forever ! An angel closes the gates of heaven, and fixes upon them 
the seal of God, which shall never be broken ; — eternity reigns all 
around. 

Every time I think of this terrible day, says St. Jerome, I tremble 
in every part of my body. Whether I eat, whether I drink, what- 
ever I do, it seems I always hear the awful sound of the trumpet, 
which rings in my ears, and says : "Arise ye dead, and come to 
Judgment." A holy man remained for three days before his death 
in a state of stupor and profound grief. Some one asked : Where 
are you going? He answered; to Judgment Why should you 
fear ? Alas ! said he, how different are the Judgments of God from 
those of man ! My Brethren, if that hour should come to you to-day, 
what would be your lot ? Where would your consciences place you ? 
\^ould it be on the right, or would it be on the left ? Choose now, 



THE nOLY GHOST. 99 

determine your place, for at present it depends on yourselves. A life 
of sin and vice will place you among the reprobate, — a life of virtue 
and wisdom will lead you to the right of Christ, on the road to 
heaven, — to the happiness of paradise ! Oh, take then, I entreat 
you, the road to glory. — Amen. 



SERMON XIX. 

EIGHTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED. 

THE HOLY GHOST. 



" I believe in the Holy Ghost." — Apostles' Creed. 

You know God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and 
earth; you know also Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our loving 
Saviour ; and you know that, to redeem us. He was made man, was 
scourged, crowned with thorns, and nailed to the tree of the cross, 
upon which He shed even the last drop of his blood. You have 
already learned all this, my Brethren, and you have also learned 
from your holy religion, that our divine Redeemer triumphed over 
death ; that He rose again, and that He is full of glory and majesty 
in heaven, where He intercedes for us, with His Father ; where He 
prepares for us a place, and whither He will introduce us when the 
time known to himself and decreed by God shall come. I will 
continue -to instruct you in the great and consoling mysteries which 
faith teaches. That which is the object of the eighth article of the 
creed is no less interesting than those you have already learned. 

What is the Holy Ghost ? There are three persons in the most 
Holy Trinity : the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Holy 
Ghost, whom the divine Saviour, when He ascended into heaven, 
promised to send to his Apostles, is the third person of the adorable 
Trinity. This Spirit of truth has no beginning, and He shall never 
have an end. The Father, the first person of the most Blessed 



100 SHORT SERMONS. 

Trinity, has no principle that produces Him, He exists of himself. 
The Son, the second person of the most Blessed Trinity, has no 
principle hut the Father, hy whom He wafs hegotten in an unspeak- 
able manner, from all eternity. The Holy Ghost, the third person 
of the most Blessed Trinity, proceeds, from all eternity, from the 
Father and the Son, as from one and the same principle, without 
being begotten of either the one or the other. The Father, con- 
templating himself and knowing himself, begets another self, — a 
Son, called also the Word ; that is what is meant by the eternal 
generation of the Word. The Father and the Son, by their 
reciprocal love, produce the Holy Ghost, the term of their love, the 
indissoluble bond between them ; that is what is called the pro- 
cession of the Holy Ghost, that is to say, the eternal production of 
the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, 
who has with them one and the same substance, and who is God, 
like God the Father, and like God the Son, and equal to them 
in all things. This is a truth which Jesus Christ clearly expressed, 
when He commanded his Apostles to baptize all nations in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The 
Holy Ghost is God, for He is comprised under the same name with 
the Father, who is God, and with the Son, who is God, and He 
operates in the work of our regeneration, in the same manner as the 
Father, who is God, and as the Son, who is God. The Holy Ghost 
is God, for the Evangelist positively declares Him to be so. "There 
are three that give testimony in heaven ; the Father, the Word, and 
the Holy Ghost : and these three are one."* Yes, the Holy Ghost 
is God, as the Father and the Son ; He has the same nature, the 
same divine essence, and at the name of the Holy Ghost, as at 
the name of the Father, and at the name of the Son, every head 
must bow, and every knee must bend, in heaven, on earth, and 
even in hell. 

But the Father and the Son are also of a nature infinitely spirit- 
ual, and infinitely holy ; why, therefore, is the name Holy Spirit, or 
Holy Ghost, which signifies the same thing, given neither to the 
Father nor to the Son ? It is because both the one and the other 
are already known by names respectively proper to each, — the one 

♦ 1 Epistle St. John, v : 7. 



THE HOLY GHOST. 101 

by the name of Father, the other by the name of Son ; but as 
we know no name which suits the third person better than that of 
the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, we designate Him by this name, 
to distinguish Him from the Father and the Son. Again, we give 
Him this name, because the Holy Ghost is as the Spirit, the Soul 
of our soul, that is to say. He vivifies it ; — for the Lord says : I 
will " put my Spirit in you, and you shall live."* In fine, we give 
Him this name, because the Holy Ghost is the author of our sancti- 
fication ; because all the blessings and all the graces which we have 
received from God, we possess from the liberality of the Holy 
Ghost, whom we ought to thank with all our hearts in grateful 
acknowledgment. It was the Holy Ghost, who, in baptism, washed 
ns, sanctified us, and justified us. My Brethren, what were we 
before the saving waters of baptism were poured upon our heads ? 
Alas ! we had received from our parents a sad inheritance ! From 
the very first instant of our existence, sin came to soil our souls ; 
we were conceived in iniquity, and were born children of wrath, 
unworthy of heaven. Be Thou praised, Holy Ghost, for the 
graces which Thou hast granted us in baptism ! Thou hast wrested 
us from eternal death, raised us up to life again, delivered us from 
the shameful bondage of the devil, regenerated us, made us children 
of God, heirs of heaven, of happiness without end ! Be praised, 

Thou Spirit of love and of unspeakable charity, for, not content 
with placing us, by baptism, on the holy way that leads to heaven, 
Thou hast not ceased to dwell in our souls and hearts, to enligKten 
and direct ns in all our conduct, to animate us with Thy celestial 
warmth, to show us the dangers which beset us, and aid us in avoid- 
ing them, to make known to us our enemies and help us to combat 
and conqiier them. Yes, Divine Spirit, my heart delights to repeat 
it ; it is to Thee, to Thy grace, to Thy assistance and to Thy divine 
lights, that I am indebted for every blessing, and for every good deed 

1 ever had the happiness to perform. There is no doubt, my Brethren, 
the Holy Ghost labors incessantly to keep us in, or bring us back to 
the pathway of virtue, to render us better and more holy. To Him, 
as to their source, we must attribute all the virtues which adorn and 
enrich our souls. It is His grace which makes virtue known to us, 

* Ezechiel, xxxvii : 14. 



102 SHORT SERMONS. 

and wliicli moves and excites our will to choose and put in execution 
the good it reveals to our understanding. You read a good book : 
it is the Holy Ghost who produces and keeps in you the good 
desire, the salutary will to follow the wise counsel which this good 
book gives you ; to rise out of sin, to be converted, and to devote 
your heart to the practice of the holy precepts of the law of God. 
You hear a sermon : it is the Holy Ghost who imprints on your 
soul the truths which the sensible word of the minister of Jesus 
Christ exposed only to the eyes of your mind, and who works upon 
your heart and fills it with holy thoughts and Christian sentiments. 
Your attention is directed to a wise and virtuous person, to a pious 
and zealous Christian. The purity that embellishes his soul, and the 
peace which reigns in his heart, sweet recompense for the practice 
of his duties, are manifested by the calmness and serenity of his 
countenance. You feel sweetly inclined to walk in his footsteps, to 
imitate his amiable conduct ; it is the Holy Ghost who gives you 
this attraction for virtue ; He it is who directs your eyes to the 
beautiful model which He presents to you, and He it is who inspires 
you with the resolution of following this model in the ways of the 
Lord. Death strikes down by your side the friend of your bosom, 
one near and dear to your heart, and behold, you begin to reflect 
on the shortness of life, on the nothingness of the things of this 
world, and you think more seriously of death and of eternity ; it 
is the Holy Ghost speaking to your soul ; He desires to enter it, — 
to convert and lead it to heaven, and He knocks at the door of your 
heart. Open your heart, my dear brother; listen to these good 
thoughts, give way to these divine inspirations ; the Spirit of God 
brings you light, peace and happiness. You fall sick, and on your 
bed of suffering your conscience is aroused from its torpor ; you 
begin to heed its reproaches ; you pray and are converted : give 
thanks to the Holy Ghost, for it is He who spoke to you, who 
touched and enlightened you ; and because you have heard the voice 
of God, and have not hardened your heart, behold, you arise from 
your sins, and you enter into the joy of your Lord, to whom you 
have become again the child of benediction. Yes, my Brethren, 
our sanctification will be effected, our salvation will be secured, if 
we always lend an attentive ear to the voice of the Holy Ghost, and 
if we faithfully obey His chai'itable inspirations. But beware, my 



T il E (• il i: li C U . 103 

Brethren, beware of opposing Him by manifesting a hard and obsti- 
nate heart : let us not compel this Spirit of goodness to withdraw 
His divine liglit from us, let us not cause Him to retire and totally 
forsake us. Woe to the obstinate sinner whom the Holy Ghost 
abandons to a reprobate sense. From the moment the unfortunate 
sinner ceases to see the enormity of his sin, he swallows iniquity 
like water, he rejects far from him the very idea of repentance, he 
becomes daily more and more hardened, he dies at last, and his soul, 
overtaken by the vengeance of God, goes to suffer forever in hell, 
the torments of the damned. 

Divine Spirit, we adore Thee from the bottom of our hearts, for 
Thou art God ; we believe firmly that Thou art the third person of 
the most Holy Trinity, that Thou ^^roceedest from the Father and 
the Son, and like them, Thou art eternal, all-poweiful, infinite in all 
Thy perfections. Creator and sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. 
Ah ! deign to enlighten our understanding, and replenish our minds 
with holy desires; encompass our hearts and sanctify them. Come, 
Spirit of wisdom and of knowledge, of counsel and of fortitude, 
of understanding, of piety and of the fear of the Lord ; come, 
Holy Ghost, establish Thy habitation in our souls, that under Thy 
guidance, we may know God, love God, serve God, and w^alk all 
the days of our life in the w^ay of His commandments, along 
the path of virtue, the only road which leads to the happiness of 
heaven. — Amen. 



SERMOiX XX. 

NINTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED. 

THE CHURCH. 



"I believe in the Holy Catholic Church." — Apostles' Creed. 

My Brethren, there is a God, the beginning, the source, and the 
author of every being. He exists necessarily, He exists of himself; 
He is eternal. He is infinitely perfect. His providence rules and 



104 SHORT SERMONS. 

governs all things with power and sweetness, and heaven and earth 
march in the paths He has marked out for them. In God, there 
are three persons : the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. These 
adorable persons have all the same nature and divine essence. The 
Father has no principle to produce Him ; the Son proceeds from the 
Father by way of generation, and was begotten from all eternity ; 
the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and Son by way of love, 
and from all eternity. We would have been forever lost, but our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, died for us on the 
cross. He rose again, ascended into heaven, where, seated at the 
right hand of God his Father, He serves as our advocate, and per- 
petually intercedes in our behalf. On the last day of the world. 
He will come again on earth to judge the living and the dead. 
Behold, in a few words, my Brethren, the great truths which I have 
unfolded in my preceding instructions. We have now come to the 
ninth article of the creed, which is thus expressed: The Holy 
Catholic Church. The explanation of this article of our faith 
interests us in the highest degree, since it is by the Church of Jesus 
Christ that we must be conducted to heaven. Continue then to 
give me your attention. 

To please God and attain heaven, it is necessary for us to live in 
the true faith of Jesus Christ. We should then have a certainty 
that we are on the right road, — marching according to the true 
doctrine of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Our Lord m.ast have given 
us means of ascertaining this road beyond doubt, and this means 
must be so plain as to be within the reach and comprehension of 
every man, learned or unlearned. What then is this means ? 

Is it the private study of the Holy Scriptures? No; for there 
are an immense number of men who have neither the time nor the 
capacity necessary to devote themselves to deep study, and to make 
such laborious, yet indispensable researches. Beside, how vast is 
the number of those who have never learned to read. Is it, per- 
haps, the teaching of the learned ? No : neither will this answer 
the purpose. For every man, left to his own opinions, makes a 
system for himself; and, in every sect, the most learned men differ 
very much from each other, even on the most essential articles of 
the faith and doctrine of Jesus Christ ; they differ, that is certain ; 
they can not therefore be right. Which then is to be followed ? 



THE CHURCH. 105 

Is it possible that the ignorant, illiterate man will be able to make 
a choice ? No. The teaching of the learned is, theiefore, not the 
means that can disclose to us the way to truth. 

Does it then consist in the immediate and particular inspiration 
of the Holy Ghost ? No, my Brethren, that is not the means. See 
what takes place among sectarists who pretend to have this miracu- 
lous and immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost. The Holy 
Ghost can teach nothing but truth ; He can not teach error ; yes 
and no at the same time. But. we know that all the sects dis- 
agree among themselves, and create for themselves contradictory 
creeds ? It is not then the Spirit of truth, but the father of lies 
that leads them. 

Who then will shed upon us the light of divine truth? 
What means have we of knowing the faith and the doctrine of 
Jesus Christ? Turn your eyes to the Church established by our 
Saviour, the God of truth; it is the sure guide to whom our 
Saviour has confided us. But, without doubt, a church that could 
be deceived, would not be the proper instrument to instruct us in 
faith and true doctrine. No, such could not be the Church which 
our divine Saviour established on earth. His Church is "like a 
city built upon a rock," it is firmly founded on truth, and we can 
with the utmost reliance assert that the Church of Jesus Christ is 
not subject to error. 

A little later I will show you this truth confirmed by the express 
words of the Sacred Scriptures, but let us first see what is this holy 
Church of Jesus Christ. When the Apostles began to preach the 
Gospel of the Saviour among those who wished to follow its 
doctrine, there were some who received and embraced every thing 
these faithful embassadors of God taught them. These were the 
true believers. Others again made choice of some truths and rejec- 
ted others. These were the heretics. As soon as the Apostles dis- 
covered the culpable manner in which these men acted, they imposed 
upon them the obligation of renouncing their errors ; and drove 
them from their communion, if they remained obstinate. They 
received into the society or assembly of Christians, which formed 
the Church of Christ, only true believers, — those who received and 
embraced all the doctrine which had been taught to them. 

Our Saviour wished not that all His ministers should be equal 



106 SHORT SERMONS. 

and occupy the same rank in His Church. He chose some to be 
superiors, — some to be elevated to the highest places, — these were 
bishops ; others were to occupy a loAver rank, — these were principally 
priests, whose duty it is to assist the bishojDS. This distinction is 
manifest in the selection which the Saviour made of His Apostles, 
who were most certainly the first bishops. He afterward chose 
seventy-two disciples, whom he sent to preach His Gospel, but 
without investing them with the authority which He had bestowed 
upon the Apostles. 

But, had all the bishops the same authority and the same dignity ? 
No ; our Saviour wished that one of them should be placed above 
all the rest, that he should be invested with supreme power, that he 
should be His representative. His vicar on earth, the visible head, 
the sovereign pontiff, the "pastor of pastors in His Church. It was 
on St. Peter that God, our Saviour bestowed this distinction and 
high dignity. He had promised him this privilege before He died 
on the cross, when he said to him: "Thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock I will build my Church.* He falfilled His promise when 
He said to the same Apostle : "Feed my lambs," that is to say, 
the faithful ; "feed my sheep," that is to say, the pastors ; be you 
the pastor of pastors. 

What then is the Church, in which the true faith of Jesus Christ 
resides ? It is the society of all faithful Christians united together 
by one and the same profession of faith, by the participation of the 
same sacraments, and by submission to the same legitimate pastors, 
chiefly to the sovereign pontiff, who is the Pope. This Church will 
subsist to the very end of time, and until then, will continue to 
conduct mankind in the ways of truth and of holiness. If it were 
possible for it to fall into error it would have long since have sunk 
into ruin ; it would long since have ceased to be the assembly of the 
faithful, — of true believers. But this our divine Lord would never 
permit; — hence He was pleased to endow His Church with the 
divine prerogative of infallibility, in every thing regarding faith, 
morals and salvation. No, the Church can not err, for our Saviour 
has said to the prince of the Apostles : " Thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of- hell shall not 

* St. Matthew, xvi: 18. 



j 



THE CHURCH . 107 

prevail against it ;* that is to say, all the power and strength of the 
devil and his assistants shall never lead it into error. But they 
would have prevailed against it, had it been permitted the father of 
lies to draw it away from truth. From that moment it would cease 
to be the society of the faithful, it would be no more the Church of 
Jesus Christ. 

No, the Church can not err, for Christ has said : " Behold, I am 
with you all days, even to the consummation of the world."! He 
will be with His Church, not from time to time, but all days ; not 
for a certain time, but even to the end of the world. God is with 
it ; He leads it as if by the hand ; it can never therefore fall into 
errors and illusions. 

No, the Church can not err, for the Saviour has said to his 
Apostles and their lawful successors : "And I will ask the Father, 
and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with 
you forever. . . . The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will 
send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things 
to your mind, whatsoever I have said to you."]; The Holy Ghost 
shall remain forever with the Apostles on earth, He will be with 
them even to the end of time ; but the Apostles were to live only 
a short time on earth ; it is therefore with theii- successors, with the 
sovereign pontiff and with the bishops that the Holy Ghost, the 
Spirit of truth, who will teach them all truth, will abide forever. 
It is therefore impossible that the Church should ever fall into 
error, for the Holy Ghost is here always present for the purpose 
of enlightening, teaching and guiding it. If you doubt this tiuth ; 
that the Church is infallible, that she can not be deceived in things 
which regard faith and salvation, one of these two things, my 
Brethren, must follow : either you refuse to believe the word of your 
Saviour, and then you declare yourself an unbeliever; or, you 
charge Him with having failed in His promise, and then you insult, 
you outrage God, you are a blasphemer. Yes, Jesus Christ has 
promised that His presence, and that of the Holy Ghost, will per- 
petually preserve His Church from the slightest taint of error. It 
will possess the truth, all the truth ; such the crown our Saviour 
has given His Spouse, which shall never be torn from her brow. 

* St. Matthew, xvi : 18, 19. f St. Matthew, xxviii : 20. t St. John, xiv : 16, 2G. 



108 SHORT SERMONS. 

Hence, St. Paul calls tlie Churcli "tlie pillar and ground of the 
truth."* Whosoever clings to this pillar shall never fall into error, 
and true faith shall forever be his happy portion. 

My Brethren, give daily thanks to God, for having received from 
Him, — from His bounty, the precious gift of faith. You were bom, 
nourished, and reared in the true Church of Jesus Christ : Oh! listen 
with docility to its teachings, and love them dearly. They are not 
doctrines deceitfully built on the whimsical reason of man, they are 
divine teachings, they are the doctrines of Jesus Christ himself, 
who imparts them to you, through the teaching body, whom the 
Saviour of the world has appointed, and whom the Paraclete, the 
Spirit of truth, directs, enlightens and preserves. Yes, my Brethren, 
let us constantly cling to this unshaken pillar, let us open our 
minds to the truths which our holy mother, the Church, makes 
known to us, and our hearts to the precepts which she in God's 
name imposes on us, to the end, that having followed the truth and 
done well, we may reach heaven, where we will see God, face to 
face, such as He is, and where that God of goodness will make us 
infinitely happy. — Amen. 



SERMON XXI. 

NINTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED. 

MARKS OF THE CHURCH 



"I believe in One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church." — Nicene Ceeed. 

The prophet Isaias, speaking of the Church, compares it to an 
immense city built upon the summit of a lofty mountain, exposed 
to the view of all people, and in which the truth perpetually dwells. 
The Church must always be visible, so that the people may know it 
and distinguish it from all the sects which arrogate to themselves 

» 1 Timothy, iii : 15. 



MARKS OF THE CHURCH. 109 

the name of Church of Jesus Christ. In fact, the Church is the 
only fohl opened to the nations of the earth by the Saviour, and it 
is in it alone that the means of attaining salvation can be found. 
Jesus Christ alone can lead us to heaven, and He dwells only in that 
Church which He himself established ; there alone He teaches, there 
He instructs, there He bestows His graces, and there alone does He 
communicate His spirit. Hence He willed that this Church, His 
true spouse, should be adorned with certain shining marks, which 
distinguish it from all others in the world, and which none of the 
sects can either claim or counterfeit. These marks, by which we 
recognize the true Church, are those of truth itself: Unity, 
Sanctity^ Catholicity and Apostolicity, — sacred marks, which the 
Lord has granted only to the One, Holy, Roman Catholic Church, 
as you will soon be convinced. 

Truth is essentially one, for God is one, and God reveals the truth 
to men. Our Saviour thus besought his heavenly Father : "I pray 
for those who through their word shall believe in me : that they all 
may be one, as Thou, Father, in me, and I in Thee, that they also 
may be one in us ; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent 
me ; . . . that they may be one, as we also are one."* Jesus Christ, 
therefore, prayed that the Church which He came to establish in the 
world might be One; He required that it should be a fold, having but 
one shepherd; a house, wherein all should be subject to only one head ; 
a body, all of whose members should be perfectly united. Thus the 
true Church must be one; one in its faith, one in its laws, one in its 
hopes, one in its head. Such, my Brethren, is the Roman Catholic 
Church ; it is to it, and to it alone, that unity belongs. 

It is one in its faith. Although spread all over the earth, it pre- 
serves the apostolic faith with a wonderful zeal, as if it dwelt but 
in one single mansion. The languages of the world are different, 
but the faith of Catholics is everywhere the same. Such as it is 
to-day and here, such has it been everywhere and always. Summon 
from the grave a Catholic from' every country, and in every one of 
the eighteen hundred years which have elapsed since the establish- 
ment of the Church ; ask of all these Catholics who lived without 
knowing each other, without seeing each other, — some of whom 

♦ St. JohD,xvii: 20,21,22. 



110 SHORT SERMONS. 

died a hundred years, some a thousand years ago, some since the 
beginning of the nineteenth century, — ask them what is their faith 
and their belief, and they will all rehearse for you the creed which 
the Church still teaches every day to her children ; they will all repeat 
for you the same dogmas, the same truths, the same points of doc- 
trine which the Church still unfolds to you to-day through the minis- 
try of its pastors. Yes, the Catholic Church is one in faith, and it 
never has varied, because truth is immutable and knows no change. 

The Koman Catholic Church is one in its communion and in its 
ministry. All her children are subject to the same authority and 
participate in the same sacraments, the same sacrifice, the same 
prayers, the same worship. To maintain this divine communion, 
Jesus Christ instituted a ministry, spread over every part of His 
Church, the same everywhere, and forming as it were a chain which 
binds the earth to heaven, — to Jesus, — to God. 

Thus, in every diocese there is a bishop, having as assistants 
priests, and other clergy of inferior ranks, and at the head of all the 
bishops, there is a supreme pontiff, the vicar of Jesus Christ for the 
whole world. The priest is in communion with his bishop, the 
bishop with the soverign pontiff; the sovereign pontiff is subject to 
Jesus Christ, who unites all to Grod, His Father. Behold the links 
of the wonderful and divine chain : the priest, the bishop, the Pope, 
Jesus Christ, — God; so that the Christian who obeys his pastor 
and hears him, obeys Jesus Christ himself, — hears God himself ; all 
are united with each other and united with God. It is not thus 
with the sects separated from the Church. Among them there is 
no unity of faith. You find there only changes and contradictions ; 
every day introduces new creeds, — new professions of faith. It 
can not be otherwise, since every man has the right of framing his 
religion to suit himself, or his conception of right. Thus, to speak 
only of Protestantism, we do not hesitate to assert, that we can 
count their sects by hundreds. No ; among them there can not 
be truth, — for among them exists no unity. 

The Church of Jesus Christ must be Holy. It must be holy in 
its head, in its maxims, in its doctrine, in its sacraments, in its pre- 
cepts, in the end which it proposes to attain, and also in its mem- 
bers ; and this holiness must be made sensible so that all, learned 
and unlearned, may recognize it as the Church of the God of holi- 



MARKSOFTIIECnUKCII. Ill 

ness. Hence, it was to bestow upon His Church all sanctity that 
Christ died ; " that He might present it to himself a glorious 
Church, not having spot or Avrinkle, nor any such thing ; but that 
it should be holy and without blemish."* 

Such is the Roman Catholic Church. It is holy in its head, who 
is Jesus Christ ; holy in the doctrine which it teaches and in the 
rules which it prescribes ; holy in its sacraments and in all the 
practices which it has instituted and approved, and at which sec- 
tarians cavil only because they know neither their salutary influence, 
nor the aim and spirit which dictated them. It is holy in its mem- 
bers, among whom are found and always will be found true saints, 
whose sanctity is evinced by their miracles. The Catholic -Church, 
therefore, is holy, and it alone can claim this title. 

None of the sects separated from the Church can be called holy, 
for none of them have Jesus Christ or the Apostles for their founder 
and their head. They are all the sad offsprings of proud minds and 
corrupt hearts. Arius, Luther and Calvin Avere haughty, scandal- 
ous and wanton apostates, whom God and His divine Son could 
never have chosen to reform His Church. 

The true Church must be Catholic, that is to say, universal. Truth 
is one ; it is, therefore, the same at all times and in every country. 
In fact, what is true here must be true everywhere ; what is true 
to-day will not be false to-morrow, nor ever. Now, the Church is 
the trvih revealed to the world ; it must therefore be Catholic or 
universal, for all time, — for all places, — for truth must be every- 
where and always the same. 

Such is the Roman Catholic Church. It is Catholic or universal as 
to the doctrines of Jesus Christ. Such it received them, eighteen hun- 
dred years ago, from the lips of the Apostles, such has it preserved 
them until now, such does it teach them at present. Nothing has 
been added, — not one iota has been suppressed, and it has ever 
driven from its fold all who were disposed to introduce innovations. 

It is Catholic or universal as to time. The Church commenced 
with the beginning of the world. The truths which it teaches us 
to-day, were revealed to our first parents, transmitted by the Patri- 
archs, unfolded in the law of Moses, completed by the Gospel of 



« Ephesians, v : 27. 



112 SHORT SERMONS. 

Jesus Christ, intrusted to the Apostles, and propagated by them 
and their successors throughout the whole universe. These same 
truths, pure and undefiled, will be preached to the very consum- 
mation of ages, for the Church will last as long as the world, and 
its creed will be the creed of mankind throughout all time. 

It is Catholic or universal as to place. God chose, says St. 
Augustine, that the Church of Jesus Christ should not be limited 
like earthly kingdoms or heretical sects, which are confined to a 
province or a kingdom. The Catholic Church invites all mankind 
to enter its fold. It is extended over the whole earth, — it includes 
all nations ; from one end of the world to the other it displays the 
splendor of an united faith, — the beauty of an unvarying doctrine ; 
and everywhere, and at every hour, Christians repeat its divine 
creed, and priests offer up its adorable sacrifice. 

It is not so with the sects cut off from the Catholic Church, — 
none of these are Catholic ; they dare not even take the name. God 
willed that it should be given only to the true spouse of Jesus 
Christ, — the Koman Catholic Church. No, these sects are not 
Catholic ; they do not teach all the doctrine of Jesus Christ ; we 
know the limits within which they are confined, and we know the 
time when they were ushered into existence. 

The true Church is Apostolic. It was to the Apostles that our 
Saviour intrusted the sacred deposit of truths which were revealed for 
the salvation of the world. It was the Apostles whom He charged to 
announce those truths to the whole universe ; the true Church there- 
fore, must descend, — must come from the Apostles ; the Holy Ghost, 
moreover, declares that the Apostles are pillars of the Church. 

Such is the Koman Catholic Church. It is Apostolic : the 
Apostles founded it, — imbued it with their doctrine, — were its 
first pastors; and their lawful successors govern it to-day. We 
can trace back the succession of our bishops, from the present time 
to the days of the Apostles. In the See of Rome is seated the 
legitimate successor of the first Pope. Beginning with Pius IX, the 
reigning head of the Church, we can ascend the course of ages through 
an uninterrupted succession of sovereign pontiffs to St. Peter, — even 
to Jesus Christ himself. The Roman Catholic Church, therefore, 
is Apostolic, — the Church of Jesus Christ, — the Church of the 
Apostles, — the Church of God, — the only true Church. 



MARKS OF THE CHURCH. 113 

Such are not the heretical sects. Supported by historical truths, 
we have the right of asking them : Who are you ? How long have 
you had existence ? Four hundred years ago you were not known ; 
you did not come from the Apostles : we know your founders, — 
you are of yesterday, — you are not Xpostolic, — you are not the 
Church of Jesus Christ. 

But there is yet another mark by which we can easily recognize 
the true Church ; it is that which our divine Lord himself pointed 
out to His disciples, when in His discourse to them after the last 
supper, He told them, that as the world had persecuted Him, so 
would it also persecute them. Look then for that religious society, 
— for that Church, against which all others have sworn an im- 
placable hatred, — which the world pursues with taunts and calum- 
nies ; for the Church, which **^5 'placed as a sign that must suffer 
contradiction,*^ that, like its divine Founder, bears upon its brow a 
crown of thorns, — a diadem of sorrows; and in it recognize the 
Church of Jesus Christ. But which is that Church? Ah, my 
Brethren, you all know it. You know that it is none other than 
the Roman Catholic Church. At all times, and in every land, has 
the sword of persecution been directed against the bosom of this 
Church ; at all times have its members been a mark for the malig- 
nant oppression of the world. It alone is a persecuted Church, — it 
is a struggling Church, ever engaged in fighting the world and its 
wickedness. It alone, therefore, is the true Church of Jesus Christ. 
Yes, my Catholic Friends, such is the true Church, — that Church 
which has been established by the Saviour of the world, — propa- 
gated by the Apostles, — cemented by the blood of martyrs, — the 
Roman Catholic Church, — the only Church which is truly One, 
Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. 

In it the Lord has deposited the treasure of truths which He has 
revealed to the world, — that precious treasure of graces which 
sanctify our souls, work out our salvation, and conduct us to 
heaven. In it we see the true fold ; the only one recognized by the 
Supreme Pastor seated at the right hand of His heavenly Father. 
In it we find that faithful flock, whom the good shepherd loves, and 
whom He confides to the care of those whom, on earth. He had 
invested with His divine authority. ! my divine Saviour ! we 
bless Thee from the bottom of our hearts, and all the days of our 
10 



114 SHORT SERMONS. 

lives, for tlie unspeakable bounty which has made choice of us, 
among so many nations which even yet sit in the shades of dark- 
ness and the shadow of death. Thanks be to Thee, my God, for 
having granted us the happiness of being born in the bosom of Thy 
Church, which has brought us up with so much care and tenderness, 
which nourishes us so abundantly with the bread of truth that it 
alone possesses, and with the manna of graces which it alone can 
obtain for us, and by which we are enabled to do Thy holy will ! 
Yes, we shall forever love this holy Church, — Thy faithful spouse ; 
we will hear and obey its voice, for we wish to please Thee on earth 
to the end, that we may deserve to see, love, and bless Thee in a 
happy eternity. — Amen. 



SERMON XXII. 

NINTH AETICLE OF THE CEEED.— (Continued.) 

RULE OF FAITH. 



"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you beside that 
which we have preached to you, let him be anathema." — Galatians, i : 8. 

The Son of God came and dwelt among men, — was made flesh, 
and died on the cross to redeem us from sin, that He might sanctify 
us by the truth, that He might form for himself a church without 
spot or wrinkle, and in which He deposited the precious treasure of 
heavenly doctrine, received from the bosom of His Father. He 
wished that there should be but one flock and one shephered, with 
whom we should all be intimately united, in the unity of Faith. 
Thus He speaks to us by the mouth of His Apostle : "I beseech 
you, brethren, that you be united in one Faith ; that you be careful 
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Let there be no 
schisms and heresies among you ; let there be among you all but 
one and the same doctrine, for there is but one God, one Faith, one 



KULE OF FAITH. 116 

baptism."* To be saved, then, to arrive at the happiness which 
God has destined for His faithful flock, we must then be established 
in this unity of Faith, we must be sanctified by the truth which has 
come from heaven. We can not too often repeat what we can not 
too deeply learn: permit me then, my Brethren, once more, to tell 
you where you will find this sanctifying truth, — this saving Faith. 

'* He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved." f Heaven and 
earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. "Though 
we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you beside that 
which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. . . . One God, 
one Faith, one baptism.'" You know these divine oracles proceed 
from the mouth of God himself, you know that they alone Avalk in 
the road to heaven, who live in the Faith and are in the possession 
of the doctrine which our divine Saviour revealed to the world. 
But, my Brethren, did the Son of God intrust to each one of us in 
particular the sacred deposit of truth ? If it were so, truth would 
soon cease to rule, or even be known on the earth ; religion, the off- 
spring of heaven, and which must be immutable, because it is true, 
because it is from God, would soon become the sad sport of human 
opinions ; it would every day undergo new changes, and perpetually 
vary according to the fickle notions of men ; it would cease to be, 
and there soon would remain not one stone upon another of that 
magnificent edifice, raised by the hand of God, cemented by the 
blood of Jesus, and built upon the foundation of the Apostles , 
hell would prevail against the Almighty, and the darkness ot 
error would again overspread the earth. Were man the judgo 
of his Faith, he would do what he has always done, and what 
he is doing this very day. For, is there an article of our Faith, 
a ti-uth of the religion of Jesus Christ, which he has not called 
in question, attacked and denied ? Is there an absurdity, no 
matter how shameful, no matter how disgraceful, which he has not 
defended and endeavored to substantiate in place of the truths which 
God himself has deigned to reveal to the world ? No, no, it is not 
true, — that every man is permitted to decide by his own private 
judgment what he should believe or what he should not believe ; 
it is not true that the divine religion of the Son of God has been 

• Ephesians and Philippians. t St. Mark, xvi : 16. 



116 SHORT SERMONS. 

abandoned to the vacillating fancies of the human mind, and that 
we are reduced to the sad necessity of seeking the truth from the con- 
fused jargon of opinions which we see hatched every day. Where, 
therefore, is the truth ? Who will tell us what we must believe ? 
We need not seek it in the dark pages of your works, ye philoso- 
phers, who will believe only your reason, and follow no light but 
that of your understanding. Give back to the religion of Jesus 
Christ, restore to the Son of God the truths which you have 
borrowed from Him, and what would your much boasted writings 
contain ? Few, very few truths, but an immense mass of errors. 
Have you more depth of genius and more brilliancy of intellect 
than the great philosophers of antiquity had ? No : surely not. 
Like them then, were you thrown back on your own resources, you 
would grope along in the dark, you would build systems of religion 
and morality which would not survive a single day, — systems 
which the slightest blast would overturn and destroy, and you are 
therefore, one and all convicted of folly. In vain do you seek to 
impose your laws and your doctrines upon us ; we will ever answer 
you in the words of one of your class, who here, however, fell upon 
the truth: "Philosophers, your laws and morals are sublime; . . . 
but, where is their sanction?" You can show none; your laws, 
therefore, have no binding obligation. Therefore, we refuse to hear 
and follow you, for we know well your system consists only of 
doubts, — leads only to the denial of all truth. Who, therefore, will 
tell us what we must believe and what we must do ? 

The heretic answers me : God himself has assumed the care of 
instructing us ; we have the Holy Scriptures : go, read them ; the 
Bible is the word of God. Yes, no doubt, the Holy Scriptures are 
the word of God, a sacred deposit of divine truths, a code of 
morality ; but I open the Bible, and I do not understand every- 
thing I read there, and I hear even an Apostle, St. Peter, telling 
me that there are many things in the Scriptures which are difficult 
to be understood. What must I do then? Must I open and 
investigate your numerous commentaries, your voluminous expo- 
sitions of the Bible ? The mystery, no doubt, will be there revealed 
to me, and the unity of doctrine and of faith, which our divine 
Saviour recommended to us, set forth in all its beauty. Is this so ? 
What do I really find among you ? How many conflicting judjj- 



RULE OF FAITH . 117 

ments ! how man}- contrary ideas, now many contradictory opinions ! 
what confusion ! what endless wrangling! Forsooth, you all read the 
Bible, and you, Lutheran, — you adore Jesus Christ, — you believe 
that He is God ; and you, Socinian, you do not believe it. You, 
Primitive Lutheran, you believe that the Bible teaches the real pre- 
sence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; but the Calvinist, who also 
reads the Bible, charges you with error and anathematizes you. 
You believe in the mysteries, and accept as unquestionable the 
miracles of our Lord ; — but here comes the Rationalist who, for his 
part, can see in the Scriptures nothing but myths and allegories. 
You acknowledge the utility, and perhaps the necessity of good 
works ; thereby contradicting your founders, who declared good 
works to be useless, and even hurtful to salvation. "The Bible, 
you exclaim, **and nothing but the Bible;" but, be kind enough to 
point out to me in the Gospel, what is of faith, — what binds under 
precept, — and what is merely of counsel. You can not do it. No, 
no ; yours is not the way to learn what we must believe and what 
we must practice, — to learn, in a word, that religion by which we 
can save our souls and reach heaven. What, indeed, is the state 
of religion in those countries which have left the bosom of the 
Catholic Church? Having fallen away from Catholic unity, these 
sects have been sjDlit into an infinity of subdivisions, — they have 
gone on from error to error, — from one absurdity to another, until 
at last they have reached a frightful rationalism, which seeks to 
annihilate all revealed truth, and cast the nations of the earth once 
more into the most hopeless darkness. No, the Scriptures are not 
sufficient ; all that they contain are truths, but these truths must be 
pointed out to us by a hand which God has rendered infallible ; all 
that they contain are truths, but they themselves tell us that our 
divine Lord has done and said many things, which have not been 
written ; and yet not one iota of revealed truth must be lost. Con- 
descend, my God, to tell me in whose hands Thou hast deposited 
the treasure of Thy adorable doctrine, and from whom Thou wishest, 
that I should receive it whole and entire. 

The truth is not far from us. Hear how our divine Saviour 
speaks to St. Peter, the prince of the Apostles: "Thou art Peter, 
and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell 
shall nat prevail against it. As the Father sent me, I also send 



118 SHORT SERMONS. 

you.'* To all the Apostles He says : Go ye, and teach all nations, 
teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you. And 
behold, I will be with you, all days, even to the consummation of 
the world ; and not only I will be with you, but I pray my Father 
that He may send you another Comforter, who will dwell with you 
forever, and teach you all truth. There must then be a chair of truth, 
elevated, visible and incorruptible, to dispense true knowledge to 
men. Such a chair was indispensable, says St. Augustine ; there- 
fore the wisdom of God established it. It exists then, this infalli- 
ble chair, shedding on every side the true light which enlighteneth 
the world : — this chair is the Church of Jesus Christ, — the Catholic 
Church, — the Church which has never changed, which is always 
the same, which has ever driven from its bosom all who would dare 
attempt to make innovations in its doctrine. It is the true fold, 
whose supreme Pastor is Jesus Christ ; it is the city of light and of 
peace, built upon an immovable rock, and in which dwelleth the 
truth without admixture of error ; it is the pillar and the ground 
of truth. Christians, may we never depart from this holy city ; let 
us keep close to this pillar reared by the hand of God, and let us 
walk in the path of truth, by the light of that lamp lighted by 
the Son of the Most High, who deceives not, and who enlightens 
every man that cometh into this world. We will then be there 
where God calls us, for there we will ever find Jesus Christ, who is 
the way, the truth, and the life, and the Holy Ghost, who penetrates 
even the depths of God himself. 

My Brethren, be careful, I say to you with St. Paul ; hold fast the 
unity of faith, lest you be carried away by t^e wind of false doc- 
trine, and by the craft of men who lie in Avait to draw you into 
error. Remember those words of the Son of God: ''^If any one 
will not hear the Church, let him be to you as a heathen and a pub- 
lican ;" as a public sinner, and a man without God and without 
hope. Never suffer yourselves to be seduced by false prophets ; 
avoid the discourses of these proud and hypocritical men, who, as 
St. Peter says, wrest the sense of the Scriptures to their own per- 
dition. Fly those false teachers who, rejecting the truths revealed 
by God, flatter the corrupt desires and bad passions of the human 
heart by false, deceitful words. But come to the school which 
Jesus has opened among us, come to the chair of Peter, the sole 



COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 119 

depository of the doctrine that came from heaven ; there alone 
will you find true light, divine grace, the words of life, of eternal 
life. — Amen. 



SERMON XXIIL 

NINTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.— (continued.) 

COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 



" Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers 
of the lot of the saints in hght." — Colossians, i : 12. 

The ninth article of our creed is thus set forth : " The Holy Cath- 
olic Church, the Communion of Saints." I have already explained 
to you the first part ; I have told you what is this Church, founded 
by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by what characteristic marks you 
can distinguish it from all the sects that dare boast of being that 
holy fold, of which Jesus Christ is the Supreme Pastor ; of being 
the church which He has firmly built upon a rock, and against 
which the gates of hell can never prevail. You know now that 
this church, one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic, is the Church of 
Rome, in which you have had the happiness of being born. It 
remains for me now to explain the second part of the ninth article, 
which is the Communion of Saints. Give me your undivided 
attention. 

When good Christians are called out of this life by God, they do 
not cease to belong to the Catholic Church, and to be still children 
of the spouse of Jesus Christ. While some of her children still 
wage war upon earth, against the world, the flesh, and the devil, 
the enemies of all God's servants ; others, already victorious in the 
fearful combat, triumph and rejoice in heaven ; and others again 
suffer great pains in purgatory, in expiation of the faults, which 
through human frailty, they have committed, and for which they 



120 SHORT SERMONS. 

had not entirely satisfied the divine justice when death came to 
call them to judgment. Hence the Church is usually divided into 
the Church Militant, the Church Triumphant, and the Church Suf- 
fering. 

The Church Militant is composed of the Saints who are still on 
earth ; it is this visible Church, whose members are here below 
engaged in battle with the enemy of their salvation. All indeed 
are not Saints, although the Apostle calls them such ; but all should 
and could become Saints, and all have been stamped with the seal 
of sanctity in their baptism. 

The Church Triumphant is composed of the Saints in heaven. 
It is that glorious Church of which St. Paul speaks ; that Church 
perfectly holy, where there is neither stain, nor spot, nor wrinkle, 
nor any such thing ; it is that City of God, that Heavenly Jerusa- 
lem, whence death is forever banished, and where tears, and weeping, 
and sorrow shall be no more, because these things have passed away 
for those who inhabit it. 

Finally, the Church Suffering is formed by the Saints in purga- 
tory, where the souls of the faithful are detained, who have departed 
this life in the grace of God, but in whom His all-seeing eye has 
discovered faults not yet fully expiated, and stains which must be 
purified in the crucible of sufferings, before they can be admitted to 
the Beatific Vision. For as nothing defiled can enter the kingdom 
of heaven, these holy souls will be excluded from it until the fire of 
purgatory will have taken away their least stain, and rendered them 
pure and white as snow. 

Whether carrying on a warfare on earth, reigning with Jesus 
Christ in heaven, or suffering in purgatory, the members of the 
Catholic Church are all united to one another, by mutual relations, 
and by indissoluble ties. This union we call, with the Apostles, 
the Communion of Saints. It consists in a union of the Saints on 
earth among themselves, a union of the Saints on earth with the 
Saints in heaven, a union of the Saints on earth with the Saints in 
purgatory. 

How are the Saints on earth united among themselves ? On 
earth, all constitute one and the same kingdom, one and the same 
family, and the Barbarian and Scythian, bond and free, all are but 
one in Christ Jesus, says the Apostle. All form one and the 



COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 121 

same body, of wliicli Jesus Christ is the head, and of which the 
Holy Ghost is the soul and the life. In this body, each member 
receives gifts, and performs actions, which are his property, but 
which at the same time also are for the benefit of all. Jesus Christ 
has bequeathed to His Church all spiritual blessings as her dowry 
and inheritance. It is in common, therefore, that we possess them, 
and the virtue of each particular Christian becomes a benefit to the 
whole society in such a way, that every faithful soul in the Church 
can say, that he has his part in the merits of all those who fear 
the Lord and keep His commandments. Yes, my Brethren, each 
faithful Christian partakes in all the prayers which are offered in 
the Church, in all the virtues which are practised within her pale, 
in all the graces which her children receive, in all the merits which 
they acquire, in all the talents, in all the titles, in all the sublime 
deeds which we so much admire, in all the victories which they 
have achieved, and in all the wonders which they have performed. 
The abundance of one supplies the want of another. All these good 
works form, as it were, an immense treasure, from which all are 
invited to draw salvation and sancification. And what is particu- 
larly touching in this beautiful Communion of Saints, is that sin- 
ners, even the most guilty, are not absolutely excluded, as long as 
they remain in the Church and preserve the faith of Jesus Christ. 
They are dead branches, it is true, but still hanging to the tree ; 
they can revive and bloom again, and once more bring forth good 
fmits. They are the unnatural children of the most affectionate of 
mothers ; but the Church preserves toward them all her natural 
tenderness ; she intercedes in their behalf as if each one were her 
only child, and though their sins deprive them of all these spiritual 
benefits, .which they can not possess without being in the state of 
grace, nevertheless, they have a large share in the unspeakable 
groanings which the Church continually sends up to heaven to ob- 
tain the grace of perseverance for the just and the grace of con- 
version for sinners. 

There is a Communion of Saints on earth ; hence the Apostles 
exhort Christians to remain always united in mind and heart, to 
entertain a truly fraternal affection and tenderness toward each other, 
helping each other by mutual assistance, and above all, ** to pray 
for one another, so that all maybe saved." This mutual affection— 
11 



1^2 SHORT SERMONS. 

this brotherly love — the soul of the Communion of Saints, in the 
Church militant, is also the bond of intimate union which unites 
the children of the Church militant with the Saints of the Church 
triumphant. "These Saints are seated on the same throne with 
Jesus Christ, as Jesus Christ is seated on the same throne with His 
Father," says St. John the Apostle ; that is to say, they are insep- 
arably united to Jesus Christ, and reign with Him in His gloiy. 
We have nothing then to ask for the Saints who are in heaven. 
Their sanctity, like their happiness, is beyond the reach of danger ; 
they have no need of our prayers ; but they know how much we 
stand in need of theirs. "They see in the light of Jesus Christ," 
says St. Pauiinus, "things the most secret and the most distant; 
they see all things in God, in whom all are contained." Jesus 
Christ says to them : I do not call you servants any more, because 
the servant knoweth not what his master does; but I call you 
friends, because I have nothing hidden from you. " They know 
in heaven infinitely better than on earth," says St. Bernard, " our 
affections, our desires, our miseries, our Aveaknesses, our cares, our 
temptations, our dangers, our misfortunes ; they do not forget that 
they are still our brethren ; they take a lively interest in every thing 
that regards our welfare ; they pray, and, as friends of the Saviour, 
they obtain for us the graces which we so much need." 

Behold, what the Saints do for us. And we, on our part, honor 
them as the blessed children of God, we take them as our models, 
we love them as friends, we invoke them as protectors, and in this 
flowing and reflowing of charity we find an abundant source of 
succors and blessings. 

But, while we receive from the Saints of heaven aid and assist- 
ance, there are other souls much cherished by God, who have 
recourse to us, and implore our prayers and intercession : these are 
the faithful departed. They died, it is true, in the grace of God, 
but their love was not sufficiently perfect to efface all the remains 
of their sins; they are, therefore, " saved, but so as by fire." They 
suffer and will continue to suffer, until they have discharged their 
entire debt. They are unable to help themselves, but we can assist 
them, for we can obtain grace and mercy for ourselves and for them. 

We offer for the repose of the souls in purgatory, prayers and 
sacrifices ; for the Holy Ghost says, " it is a holy and a wholesome 



COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 12$ 

thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their 
sins." The poor man offers his prayers for the suffering souls, and 
thereby relieves and delivers them. The rich, — the man to whom 
the Lord has intrusted a part of the good things of this world, 
draws upon his treasury and gives to the poor in behalf of the souls 
in purgatory, and his alms cover and blot out in the other world a 
multitude of sins. Oh, how beautiful, how sweet and consoling it 
is to be able to say, that even a penny given to buy bread for the 
destitute, can deliver a poor soul from its frightful sufferings, and 
give it a place at the banquet of the Lord, in the eternal mansions ! 
Let us pray then for the souls in purgatory ; let us give alms, let 
us perform good works, and let us ask God to apply the merit of 
them to the suffering souls, and be sure, my Brethren, that we shall, 
obtain, if not their entire deliverance, at least the remission of a 
portion of their debts, a diminution of sufferings for them, and 
abundant consolation for ourselves. Ah! my Brethren, is not 
gratitude the virtue of the Saints ? The holy souls, whom we will 
deliver by our prayers, will pray for us, and God will grant us 
graces to assist us to persevere in truth and virtue, — in the way of 
faith and salvation. 

Behold, my Brethren, this beautiful and divine Communion of 
Saints, your belief in which from your childhood, you have learned 
to profess every time you repeated the Apostles' Creed. Let us 
never forget it. Let us congratulate ourselves on belonging to this 
holy Church, out of which, no one can have part in the Commu- 
nion of Saints ; let us keep ourselves closely united to the Saints 
on earth, meriting, by our piety, the privilege of partaking in all 
the good works they perform ; to the Saints in purgatory, by seizing 
with pious eagerness every occasion of aiding them by our prayers 
and good works ; to the Saints in heaven, by devoutly and sincerely 
imploring the assistance of their prayers and their powerful inter- 
cession with God ; that walking in their footsteps and imitating 
their virtues, we may merit to be one day admitted into their tri- 
umphant society, to enjoy in the bosom of Abraham the eternal 
delights of the blessed. — Amen. 



124 SHOKT SERMONS. 

SERMON XXIV. 

THE TENTH AND ELEVENTH AETICLES OP THE CEEED. 

FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND RESURRECTION OF 
THE BODY. 



" I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body." — Apostles' 
Creed. 

In my last instruction, my Brethren, I endeavored to explain to 
you what is understood by the communion of saints. We acknowl- 
edge in the Church of Jesus Christ a holy community of spiritual 
goods and riches, which our divine Saviour has established between 
the different members that compose this great body of which He is 
the head. Happy communion of saints, that makes us partakers 
of the good works and merits of all our brethren in Jesus Christ, 
and establishes such sweet and precious relations between the saints 
of heaven, the saints on earth, and the saints in purgatory ! To- 
day, my Brethren, I wish to direct your attention to two other 
articles of our creed, which are thus expressed: "The Forgiveness 
of Sins, the Resurrection of the Body." The exposition of these 
two dogmas of our holy religion is of great moment to all Chris- 
tians; I therefore hope that you will pay a due attention. 

What does the tenth article of our creed, — "the Forgiveness of 
Sins," teach us? This inestimable article of our faith discloses to 
us one of the greatest blessings which the bounty of God has 
granted to man. Can our mind conceive a more endearing or more 
consoling' truth, than that contained in these few words, — "the 
Forgiveness of Sins?" Yes, we firmly believe, and with a cer- 
tainty founded on the word of God, that our bountiful Saviour has 
intrusted to the wisdom of His Church, the sovereign power of 
Forgiving Sins, and has opened in the bosom of the holy city this 
abundant source of consolation and peace. We were conceived in 



FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 125 

sin, ** we were born cliildren of wrath," as the Holy Ghost declares to 
us ; every day we learn more and more our own weakness, and we 
find it to be immense. In fact, too often is our soul stained with 
sin, for the just man falls seven times a day. But does not the 
word of God declare that nothing impure, nothing defiled, shall ever 
enter the kingdom of heaven? What then would have become of 
us, how great would be our despair, did not the cheering light of 
faith show us in the bosom of the Church an inexhaustible treasure 
of bounty and mercy ? Yes, we can yet attain heaven, for in the 
Church there is Forgiveness of Sins. 

But let us understand well the meaning of this article of our 
creed. To whom has our Lord and Saviour given power to For- 
give Sins ? This power, which He possesses by His own nature, 
for He is God ; this power, which He obtained by the efficacy of 
His merits, in His quality of Saviour, He has communicated by 
grace to His Church, because it is His spouse. This truly divine 
power, — the greatest that can be given to man, Jesus has commu- 
nicated to men, and even to sinners ; not to all men, not to all the 
children of the Church, but to His Apostles, to those whom He 
has appointed to the government and care of His flock. To them. 
He says : ** Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven ; whose 
sins you shall retain, they are retained." Divine Saviour, God, 
Thy Father, sent Thee among us to destroy sin, to blot out the 
iniquity of the world, to save poor sinners; be Thou praised, my 
Jesus ! Thou hast accomplished the will of Thy Father, and behold, 
to complete Thy divine work, and continue Thy heavenly mission. 
Thou didst command Thy Apostles to go and preach to all nations 
that the justice of God had been satisfied on Calvary, that heaven 
was again thrown open to man, and that the sins Thy ministers 
would forgive, should be forgiven, and the sins they would retain, 
should be retained. 

It was to the Church in the person of the Apostles, that our 
bountiful Saviour granted this supreme power of Forgiving Sins : 
it will always subsist, for the Church will subsist to the very end 
of time, and there will always be sinners to seek grace and pardon. 
This divine power passed from the Apostles to their successors, and 
these communicate it to priests at the moment they impart to them 
the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands. The fruits of Christ's 



126 & H O K T SERMONS. 

deatli will last forever ; it must, therefore, be perpetually applied 
and communicated ; the remission of sins will, therefore, always be 
continued in the Church till the consummation of the world. Jesus 
Christ will be with His Church to the very end of ages, and every 
day He will employ the tongues and the hands of His priests to 
remit the sins of men ; not some sins, but all sins, no matter how 
enormous they may be, no matter how numerous. 

But how shall we obtain the pardon of our sins ? Principally, 
my Brethren, by receiving those sacraments instituted by our Sa- 
viour, Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, especially baptism 
and penance. It was to these sacred signs our Saviour was pleased 
to attach His grace. When the holy water of baptism was poured 
upon your heads, you were washed, purified from original sin, and 
from all actual sin, which you had committed since your birth ; you 
were justified and regenerated in Jesus Christ, and, children of 
wrath as you were, you became the children of God by grace. But 
there are few who preserve the grace of this baptism ; there are 
few who keep without stain the beautiful robes of innocence with 
which they were clothed at the moment of their regeneration. 
Therefore our divine Lord instituted the sacrament of penance, in 
which we can obtain Forgiveness of Sins committed after baptism. 
In it we find a second plank after shipwreck. ** It is the second 
gate," as Tertullian calls it, "which God placed in His city, that 
those who knock might enter ; it was placed there, as baptism can 
be received but once, that, after this door of innocence was closed, 
the misfortune of sinners might not be without resource." These 
two inestimable sacraments, therefore, are justly called the sacra- 
ments of the dead ; in fact, they raise us from the spiritual death 
inflicted on the soul by sin, and restore us to life by reestablishing 
us in grace. 

I doubt not that the sentiments which reign in your souls, are 
those of the most profound gratitude toAvard God. You justly 
owe it to the Lord, my Brethren, for His bounty has granted you to 
be born in the bosom of the Church established by His divine Son, 
in the bosom of the only spouse of Jesus, to which alone He granted 
the high and truly divine power of remitting sins. It is there, and 
there only, that you will obtain pardon for the faults which sully 
vour souls; it is there only that fallen man can be restored to life, — 



K E S U K K E C T ION OF THE 1) O D V . 127 

to grace, and can advance toward the endless happiness of heaven, 
where virtue finds its recompense. Alas ! onr lot would have been 
most deserving of pity, — most unfortunate, if God, in punishment 
of our iniidelity to His service, had refused to grant us the pardon 
of our sins ; if Ho had taken from us the hope of being ever restored 
to His favor. Our misfortune would have been irremediable, and we 
would all have been victims of the devouring fire of hell ; for who 
among us dare flatter himself that he has never committed one sin- 
gle mortal sin from the day he was baptised ? Let us then bless 
from the bottom of our hearts the divine mercj'', for an immense 
favor has been betowed upon us, an adorable grace imparted to us 
from heaven ! God condescends to promise the pardon of our sins, 
and, to merit it for us, the Son of God shed every drop of His 
blood ! But is it not with difficulty we can obtain this pardon, 
which is the price of the death of a God ? How great is the charity 
of the Lord, since, to restore us to His grace and His love. He re- 
quires only a sincere repentance and a frank and open avowal of 
our sins, in the tribunal of penance. But do not deceive your- 
selves; without repentance, there is no pardon: "God is just as 
well as merciful," says St. Fulgencius ; "His justice j^revents Him 
from overlooking sin, as His mercy prevents Him from refusing 
pardon to the repenting sinner." You ask of me salvation, 
says the Lord to us, and on my part I require from you the con- 
version of your heart. Do w^hat I command, and you shall 
have what I promise. "Be converted to me, and you shall be 
saved."* "He will not reject the humble and contrite heart, 
and He always yields to the sacrifice of the tears of penance, — to 
those tears which are the blood of the heart," as St. Augustine says. 
Behold, my Brethren, the consoling doctrine contained in this 
article of the creed, "the Forgiveness of Sins." What is prom- 
ised us by the other part of the article, " the Resurrection of the 
Body?" "Thy dead men shall live," says Isaias; " my slain shall 
rise again"f saith the Lord. And again: Thus saith the Lord 
concerning these dry bones: "ye dry bones, hear the word of the 
Lord. Thus saith the Lord God to these bones : behold, I will send 
spirit into you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, 

» Isaias, xlv : 22, t Isaias, xxvi : 19. 



SHORT SEli 3*1 ONS. 

and will cause flesh to grow over you, and will cover you with skin : 
and I will give you spirit ; and you shall know that I am the Lord."* 
On the last day our souls will be again united to our bodies, — to 
those bodies which we have at present, and which soon will be laid 
in the grave. Yes, we can all repeat those beautiful words of holy 
Job : ** I know that my Redeemer liveth ; and in the last day I shall 
rise out of the earth : And I shall be clothed again with my skin, 
and in my flesh I shall see my God; whom I myself shall see, 
and my eyes shall behold : this my hope is laid up in my bosom. "•(' 

It will be so, my Brethren, for the Son of God himself has said 
it: ** Amen, amen I say unto you, that the hour cometh, when the 
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. . . . Wonder not at 
this ; for the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall 
hear the voice of the Son of God ; and they that have done good, 
shall come forth unto the Resurrection of life ; but they that have 
done evil, unto the Resurrection of judgment."]; Behold the reason 
why we shall be called to life again; it is "that every one may 
receive the proper things of the body," which was the instrument of 
the soul, *' according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil."§ 

There will be a great difference, as far as regards the bodies, in 
the Resurrection of the dead. The bodies of the just will rise from 
the tomb, radiant and glorious ; they will, says the Holy Ghost, 
shine like stars in the firmament, and thus they "will ascend to the 
abode of eternal delights. The frightful hideousness of sin will be 
depicted in every feature of the face, and in every part of the sin- 
ner's body ; the reprobate will be horrified at his own appearance, 
and will precipitate himself into the dreadful torments of hell. Oh ! 
my Brethren, the Resurrection of the dead, like the general judg- 
ment, is a terrible, though consoling truth ! Let us meditate upon 
it frequently and with attention ; it will inspire us with the fear of 
sin and animate us to the love of virtue ; it will console us when 
pressed down by grief and disappointment ; it will fortify us in our 
sorrows, encourage us in our labors, and support us in adversity. 
I will be rewarded both in my soul and my body, if I do good ; I 
will do so, for I wish to attain heaven. The remembrance of my 
past sins shall not frighten me ; for the Lord makes it a duty for me 

* Ezech., xxxvii : 4—0. f Job, xix : 25—27. t John, v : 25, 28, 29. § 2 Cor., v : 10. 



THE TWO ETERNITIES. 129 

to believe firmly in His mercy, and He promises me the pardon of 
my sins, if I repent of them from the bottom of my heart. I will 
place confidence in the tenderness of my mother, the Church, the 
spouse of Jesus Christ, who has received from her heavenly bride- 
groom, an omnipotent gift of mercy. I will tell her of my repent- 
ance, and she will open to me the gates of a happy eternity. — Amen. 



SERMON XXY. 

TWELFTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED. 

THE TWO ETERNITIES. 



" And life everlasting." — Apostles' Creed. 

'* The Lord God holds the whole world in His hand ; for Him 
nothing is afar off; in the twinkling of an eye, He could collect all 
the ashes of the dead, all the parts of our bodies which have been 
devoured by the fish, by the birds, or by insects, and which perhaps 
have been carried to places the most remote from each other."* 
Faith also teaches us that our bodies will come forth alive from the 
darkness of the grave, and that we shall see with our own eyes the 
coming of the Sovereign Judge. We must all appear before the 
tribunal of Jesus Christ, that each one among us may receive, in 
his soul and in his body, according to the good or the bad deeds 
which he" did, during his pilgrimage in this world. Behold, my 
Brethren, the truth which formed the subject of our last instruction. 
To-day, we will explain this important and last article of the 
creed, — ** life everlasting." What is this life everlasting, wdiich the 
twelfth article of the creed announces to us ? It is the life which 
at the moment of our death begins for us, in heaven or in hell, and 
which will never have an end. The life of eternal happiness in 
heaven, or of eternal misery in hell. Every man who believes in 

» St. Cyril's Cathechism, c. 18. 



130 SHORT SERMONS. 

God must necessarily believe in the existence of a heaven, — ^where 
virtue is recompensed, and in the existence of a liell, where vice is 
punished ; for, if on the one hand, God is worthily honored and 
faithfully served in this world, on the other, it can not be denied 
that He is sadly offended, and offended with impunity. Now, can 
any one believe that God is just, and not be convinced that He will 
recompense those who serve Him, and that sooner or later He 
will punish those who offend Him? If He afflicts the just man 
and permits him to suffer in this world, it is because He reserves 
for him hereafter a glorious recompense. If He allows those who 
insult and outrage Him, to enjoy the peace and comforts of this 
life, it is because He prepares for them a terrible retribution after 
death. Yes, there is an eternal life, where He will render to every 
one according to his works : the good and the virtuous who are 
now deprived of earthly enjoyments, will be crowned with bliss and 
glory ; the wicked who go unpunished, and who often have all the 
comforts of worldly prosperity, will then feel the effects of His 
vengeance. To convince us of this truth, says Tertullian, we have 
no need to seek for proofs, since our divine Lord has expressly de- 
clared it, nor need we make long researches after what the Evan- 
gelist has told us. 

This doctrine, so terrible and at the same time so consoling, was 
often recalled to the minds of the disciples by the Son of God; 
He constantly spoke to them of a future life, — of the kingdom 
of heaven, — of a kingdom which was not of this world, where He 
would be forever with His triumphant Church. He told them 
that when sufferings and afflictions came upon them, that they 
should not be discouraged, but rejoice and be glad, and that they 
should cast their eyes toward heaven, because there a great recom- 
pense awaited them. He forewarned them of the persecutions 
which they would have to suffer in this world ; but He also said to 
them: " Fear not those that kill the body, and can not kill the 
soul : but rather fear Him that can destroy both soul and body in 
hell."* We likewise hear the voice of our Saviour proclaiming 
the existence of an eternal life, when He pronounces the last sen- 
tence upon the world, upon all men assembled together at the foot 

* St. Matthew, x : 28. 



THE TWO ETKKIslTIES. 131 

of His trilnmal, in tlie valley of jiulgmont. To tlio jnst He saj^s : 
" Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for 
■yon, from the fonndation of the world." Bnt to the wicked: 
" Depart from me, ye cnrsed, into everlasting fire, which was pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels. And these," add the Evangelist, 
" shall go into everlasting punishment ; bnt the jnst, into life ever- 
lasting."* 

The just shall go into life everlasting, where God becomes the 
great recompense of those who loved Him on earth. They will 
see Him in himself, and in His own substance ; they will contem- 
plate His beauty, His wisdom, His justice. His goodness. His 
mercy, and all His infinite perfections. God communicates himself 
to His friends, in heaven ; they have the happiness of loving Him, 
of blessing Him, and of perpetually glorifying Him; they possess 
Him, and are bound to Him by the most endearing and the most 
indissoluble ties ; they no more fear being ever separated from Him ; 
they will be forever in the beautiful kingdom of heaven, seated 
eternally at the banquet of the Lamb, plunged in the torrent of the 
pure delights of the paradise of Jesus, — in that unspeakable happi- 
ness which the Apostle who saw it, could find no other M'ords to 
express than these : " The eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, 
neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God 
hath prepared for them that love him."f In a word, they will be 
infinitely happy. 

But, on the other side, behold how the angels, those spirits who 
were created to execute the commands of God, and to serve as His 
ministers, have faithfully accomplished the will of the Son of Man. 
They have traversed His immense kingdom, — they have collected 
together in one place all scandals, that is to say, all depraved and 
corrupt hearts, — all those who worked iniquity, — all obstinate sin- 
ners, — all whose foreheads are branded with the curse of God. The 
earth opens, and angels precipitate them into hell. Hell is a burn- 
ing furnace, — a cavern of fire, — a lake of brimstone and pitch, — an 
inextinguishable fire, wherewith the wicked will be penetrated and 
as if salted, according to emphatic expression employed by one of 
the prophets, and repeated by Jesus Christ himself. There, nothing 

» St. Matthew, xxv : 34, 41, 46. +1 Corinth iaus, ii : 9. 



132 SHORT SERMONS. 

will be heard but groaning, weeping and gnasbing of teeth ; there, 
the reprobate will be Eternally separated from God, the Supreme 
Good, — forever deprived of seeing Him, — driven from His bosom, — 
abandoned to regrets, — to remorse, — to despair, because they did 
not wish to employ the days of their first life, in procuring an Eter- 
nally happy life. There, in those frightful torments, will be found 
those proud and criminally insensible men, who, in this world be- 
lieved themselves so prudent and so wise. They placed in one hand 
sin and its false joys, and in the other, the Eternity of heaven and 
the Eternity of hell ; they weighed them, and having dared pro- 
nounce the two Eternities as overbalanced, they chose sin, — they 
swallowed iniquity like water, and they died in their impenitence. 
**But the judgments of God are just and equitable.*' Behold how 
these sinners have been also weighed in the balance of the Sove- 
reign Judge ; they have been found wanting, — they are rejected, — 
they are plunged into hell. They would have desired to sin Eter- 
nally, — they will be Eternally punished, *' and the smoke of their 
torments shall ascend up forever and ever."* Their sentence, says 
St. Chrysostom, is written in indelible characters upon the im- 
movable pillars of Eternity. ''I remembered God," says the 
Prophet, "and was exercised; and my spirit swooned away. My 
eyes prevented the watches : I was troubled, and I spoke not. I 
thought upon the days of old : and I had in my mind the Eternal 
years. And I meditated in the night with my own heart : and I 
was exercised, and I swept my spirit. Will God then cast off 
for ever ? Or will He never be more favorable again ? Or will He 
cut off His mercy forever, from generation to generation."! 

During all Eternity, my Brethren, we shall be either with God 
in heaven, or with the devils in hell. What then is Eternity ? Is 
it millions of years ? Ah ! millions of years pass, but Eternity 
passes not, — it is always beginning. *' O Eternity ! Eternity ! " 
cries out St. Augustine, "Can any one think of thee, advance 
toward thee, and yet neglect his salvation ? Can any one think 
of thee and not have a desire to change his life, to become better, 
to reform his heart, and to supplant the love of vice by the love of 
virtue, and the practice of piety and religion ? Will this man be 

* Apocalypse, xiv : 11. t Psalms, Ixxvi :, 4 — 9. 



T H E T W O ETERNITIES. 133 

happy ? Or will he be miserable forever ? He seems not to care 
much, unhappy man tliat he is, thereby showing that he has lost 
both his reason and his conscience." How few there are who can 
say with the royal prophet: " One thing I have asked of the Lord, 
this will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, 
all the days of my life ; that I may see the delight of the Lord, 
and may visit His temple."* Alas! far more numerous is the 
multitude of those who, though convinced of the truth of a futuie 
life, of an Eternity of happiness and an Eternity of misery, yet 
neglect and forget their salvation, pass their lives without ever 
thinking of their souls and their God, give themselves up entirely 
to the care of their bodies, employ every means to shelter them- 
selves from the sorrows of this short life, and never once reflect that 
they are every day advancing nearer and nearer the brink of hell. 
They adore the beast, — the devil, and his image, — the world ; — 
they shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the sight of 
the holy angels, and in the sight of the Lamb, forever and ever. 
** Now is an end come upon thee, and I will send my wrath upon 
thee : and I will judge thee according to thy ways : and I will set 
all thy abominations against thee. And my eye shall not spare 
thee, and I will show thee no pity : but I will lay thy ways upon 
thee : and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee : and you 
shall know that I am the Lord,"| your God. " I shall take care 
not to defer," says St. Bernard, in his sermon on the Canticle, "for 
I fear falling into the hands of the living God. I shall, therefore, 
examine my desires, and my acts, that when He shall come who is 
to visit and 'search Jerusalem with lamps,'J He may find nothing 
in me which can be condemned at His tribunal." Yes, my Breth- 
ren, let us ever direct our thoughts toward that future life which 
awaits us after death, and into which we shall soon enter ; for every 
breath we draw, and every step we take, brings us nearer to the 
grave. Eternal happiness in heaven ! Misery without resource and 
without end in hell ! Oh ! let us employ soul and body, mind and 
heart, to gain a place in the paradise of God. Let us bear the yoke 
of the Lord with courage, let us detest sin, live holy lives, multiply 
our good works, make good use of the few hours which God counts 

♦ Psalms, xxvi: 4. + Ezechiel, vii : .3, 4. t Sophonias, i : 12. 



134 SHORT SEKMONS. 

out to US in this world, let us advance toward heaven hy never 
losing sight of these two consoling, and yet awful words : Ever ! 

Never ! In hell, torments never ending, sufferings ever beginning ; 

if I die in sin, such will be my lot. In heaven my happiness will 
never finish. I shall forever exult in its ineffable delights, — if while 
on earth, purity and the love of God reign in my soul ; if I do what 
God commands me, live according to the precepts of His Church ; 
in a word, if my life be wise. Christian and holy. ! if I 
depart this life in the grace of God, my happiness will be Eternal. 



SERMON XXYI. 

TWELFTH AKTICLE OF THE CREED.— (continued.) 

ETERNAL LIFE— OR DEATH. 



" Life everlasting." — Apostles' Creed. 



Either an Eternity of happiness, or an Eternity of misery , 
behold the destiny reserved for man. We should all, my Brethren, 
sigh after the felicity of heaven. We should all fear the doom of 
the reprobate in hell. Our lot in Eternity will be the consequence 
of our life here below. Everlasting misery awaits him who will 
have violated the holy law of God, Avho will have done evil, and 
died without repentance. Boundless happiness will be the portion 
of every faithful servant of the Lord, of every one who will have 
done the will of his divine Master, practised patience, and constantly 
walked in the way of His commandments. Let us consider this 
important truth, and let us beg of God grace to thoroughly under- 
stand it. 

My Brethren, what is the state of your mind, your heart, and 
your conscience ? Are they tranquil, or are you the prey of uneasi- 
ness and trouble? You often say that riches, -honors and pleasures 
do not constitute true happiness. No, were you in possession of 



KTEKNAL LIFE OR DEATH. 135 

all the riches of the world, elevated to the highest honors, and sur- 
rounded with all the pleasures which the imagination of man can 
invent, you could not be happy, if your heart be enslaved by any 
evil passion; if your conscience justly reproach you. and if it can say to 
you in those terrible accents, which it knows so well how to assume ; 
" Here, you have tarnished the beauty and innocence of an immor- 
tal soul, have sullied the purity of a heart redeemed by the blood 
of Christ: there, your hand has plundered the property of your 
neighbor ; or you have ruined his character by detraction and ca- 
lumny ; you have pierced with sorrow the bosom of a poor widow, 
and rendered a family desolate ; or, you have been negligent in the 
care of your own family, and have grossly violated your obligations 
to God, — to your neighbor, and to yourself. If your conscience 
can thus reproach you, you are guilty, and can not be happy. 
Shame and sorrow are ever the inseparable companions of the man 
who violates the laws of God and of conscience. Peace and tran- 
quillity of soul are the heritage only of the wise and virtuous. 
Examine, then, your hearts. No doubt, there will be found in this 
audience more than one faithful soul who can with truth say : ** I 
have "always made it an inviolable duty to bridle my anger, to close 
my heart to the suggestions of self-love and avarice, to repel with 
courage the flattering words of sensual pleasure, and of every evil 
passion. I have loved and served my God, I have loved my 
neighbor, and done good to all. Thus, I possess the sweet joy of 
peace and tranquillity of heart ; I look up with confidence toward 
my God, — I hope in Him, and I see approaching without much 
fear that moment, wherein I must enter into my Eternity." Yes, my 
Brethren, there are many among you, to whom this language is 
applicable. May God grant, that there is no one here who can say 
of himself: " I am never perfectly happy ; there is something in my 
heart, which robs me of repose. The sins of my youth are always 
present to my mind, and afflict my heart. I know, I feel that I 
have been a perverse child ; I have saddened my good parents. I have 
been a bad father ; I have neglected my business and my family ; I 
have lost and perverted to profane uses, the precious time which 
heaven had bestowed upon me. I have been a wicked Christian ; I 
have not served my God, — I have not loved my neighbor, and in- 
justice has soiled my soul. I know that God wills that my heart 



136 SHORT SERMONS. 

should be elevated toward Him, — should be centered in Him ; and, 
on the contrary, I am bewildered in the love of worldly pursuits, — 
I have no relish for the things of heaven. Oh ! I tremble at the 
thoughts of Eternity, into which I must soon enter!" 

If you have been just, good and virtuous, happiness and peace 
will pervade your hearts ; if you have been wicked, vicious and 
guilty, you will be tormented in the inmost recesses of your soul. 

If, in the present life, such is the order established by God that 
we shall be happy, or unhappy, according as we lead good or evil 
lives, must we not thence conclude that the same will hold good 
in the life to come ; and that we will be happy, or miserable for 
eternity, according to the good or the evil we shall have done on 
earth ? *'Not only the justice of God requires that such should be 
the case, but, says a holy writer, your own heart demands it. If on 
earth you have not loved your brethren ; if you have been hard- 
hearted, passionate, envious, ungrateful and impure ; if you have 
despised the knowledge of God and His perfections ; if the thought 
of the Almighty was a burden, you will not be pleased in heaven, in 
the society of the saints, so sweet, so good, so generous, so pure ! 
you would not be at ease in the habitation of the elect ; that is not 
your place." If you desire to be happy in heaven with God, — 
with the angels and the saints, you must live in such a manner as 
to deserve it ; love God and keep His law, for the present life is the 
source of the happiness, or the misery of the future. 

Man will reap what he has sown. He who sows in the flesh and 
lives only according to bad desires and evil passions, will reap only 
misery ; but he who sows in spirit and lives according to the law of 
God and of conscience, w^ill reap life everlasting. Your soul is the 
field which God has given you to cultivate : if you sow nothing in it, 
or if you sow only vice and sin, bad will be the crop ; you will reap 
your own- ruin. If on the contrary you sow in it the seeds of divine 
and fraternal charity, — the love of God and of your neighbor, 
justice, purity and piety, — you will have an abundant harvest : 
eternal happiness, union with God in this world, — union with God 
in heaven. Your soul is like a tree : if God find that it brings forth 
good fruit. He will preserve it for heaven ; if He discover on it only 
bad fruit. He will command it to be cut down and cast into the fire. 
The word of God is express, my Brethren ; the happy life in heaveu 



ETERNAL LIFE — OR DEATH. 137 

is the recompense, the result of a virtuous life in this world. What 
practical conclusions ought we not to draw from this truth ? 

If such is the will of God, that our future happiness depends upon 
the life which we lead in this world, we ought surely hold in the 
highest esteem the time which God has given us, and use it with 
the utmost diligence in performing well all our ordinary actions. 

There is nothing which we esteem or respect less than the time 
granted to us by heaven to pass on earth ; nothing, which in some 
sort is more of a burden to us. We dissipate it and lose it in a thous- 
and ways. I know, and willingly confess that sometimes recreation 
is necessary. We can not be always praying, reading, meditating 
or working. Mind and body alike have need of some relaxation to 
recruit their strength : but to pass a great part of our lives in doing 
nothing, or in assisting at those diversions which are only suited to 
weaken us, to enervate us, and to lead us into the paths of vice, are 
not the relaxations which the body and the soul require ; on the 
contrary, they are sources of affliction to them, since they make us 
lose that precious time, of which we will one day have to render a 
strict account to the Lord. 

And nevertheless, generally speaking, we know well the value 
of the rapid hours of our life, but only when there is question of 
temporal interest or advantages. Thus, you fathers and mothers, 
with the utmost sincerity, will say to your son : ** My child, seek 
knowledge now, — take advantage of your youth to store your mind 
with learning and science. . . . When you will have arrived at man's 
estate, you will repent, if you have not done so." You say to this 
youth : ** Work, try to make yourself perfect in your trade or pro- 
fession, — profit by this time which is given you to learn it, if you 
do not wish to be classed in after life among the ignorant and 
incompetent." You say to this other, who is the father of a family : 
** If you do not work while you have time, — if at present you seek 
your own ease and pleasure, in place of attending to the interests of 
your family, you will one day feel the blush of shame on your brow, 
and the bitterness of grief in your soul, when your children will 
ask you for bread, and you will have none to give them." You 
speak thus, my Brethren, and you are right ; — but should we not 
also sometimes say to ourselves : Now is the time to learn, to study, 
to work for Eternity ? And without neglecting the care of your 
12 



138 SHORT SERMONS. 

family, could you not find time to take care of your soul ? With- 
out ceasing to think of your profession or your commerce, could 
you not work at the great affair of your salvation ? Without dis- 
continuing your sowing or your planting for time, what prevents you 
from keeping your hand on that plough which labors for Eternity ? 

Alas ! how blind man is ! He attaches his heart only to things 
visible, — perishable and fleeting, — and he disregards those which 
never fade and never perish ! All his activity and courage are em- 
ployed to procure what he must quit on the confines of life, — but 
he ever thinks it time enough to commence working at some future 
day for the endless happiness of heaven. For one penny, says 
Thomas a Kempis, men sometimes shamefully quarrel, — but for 
Eternal life, they will scarcely move a foot from the ground. How 
much better would it be for us to put our time to good account, 
by seriously reflecting that the day which passes is the price of 
Eternity. 

Listen to those words of our divine Lord. " Walk while you 
have the light."* Behold, "the night cometh when no man can 
work."f To-day it is still possible, nay even easy for you to gain 
heaven : say not then, I will do it to-morrow ; for to-morrow, per- 
haps, the bell will announce your death. Think of this, ye men 
of business, and do not permit yourselves to be absorbed in the cares 
of the world. Think of it, ye men of pleasure, who bearing in 
your breast a guilty conscience, yet laugh and sport, though you 
are suspended over the abyss of endless misery by a single thread. 
Let us all think of it, my Brethren, and let us endeavor to do some- 
thing for God and for our souls. 

And here let me warn you against a defect which we may remark 
in so many. There are, in fact, persons who seem to have a double 
conscience, — very timorous on certain points, — very lax and easy 
on others no less important. They will be very exact in serving 
God on Sundays, and will not for any consideration engage in the 
slightest work on this holy day. That is all very good, — but on 
working days, these people are also unoccupied, and constantly 
neglect the duties of their state. Another one has a horror of 
blasphemy and cursing, but he permits his tongue to indulge freely 

* St. John, xii : 35. f St. John, ix : 4. 



ETERNAL LIFE OR DEATH. 139 

in calumny and detraction. Some will carefully avoid all actions 
which God and religion condemn, but they make very little 
account of the bad thoughts that trouble their imagination, or of 
the evil desires that fill their hearts. This is understanding very 
badly what religion and God command. Is it not said that he who 
transgresses one divine precept, becomes guilty of all ? Are there no 
sins except Sabbath-breaking, blasphemy, and impurity of act? 
Are impurity of heart and detraction to be regarded as lawful ? No, 
no. God is not the judge of some sins, but of all. He is not 
severe on some sins, and indifferent to others. Every mortal sin 
shuts heaven close. Since our Eternal happiness is the consequence 
and the recompense of our life here below, let us endeavor to render 
this life equally good and holy, in the wishes ^vhich we form in the 
bottom of our hearts, — in the words which we pronounce, — in the 
actions which we perform. Let every thing in us correspond 
worthily to the will of God. Let us love God with our whole 
soul, — with all our mind, — with all our heart, — with all our strength; 
we will then fulfill His entire law, and our lot in Eternity will be 
that of the elect. — Amen. 



PAET II. 

SERMON XXVII. 
ON HOPE. 

"In Thee, Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded." — ^Psalms, xzx:l. 

Without faith, says the Apostle, it is impossible to please God, 
and the wrath of God presses with all its weight, upon the children 
of incredulity. The truths which God deigned to reveal to the 
world, and which the Church of Jesus Christ proposes for your 
belief, have been presented to your minds and hearts, in the explan- 
ation of the Apostles' Creed which I have given you. But to 
attain heaven, is it sufficient for us to have faith ? No. We have 
a second duty to fulfill, which is that of Hope. We must Hope in 
God, we must Hope for, and expect with confidence to receive, what 
God in His Goodness has promised us. ** Faith," says a father of 
the Church, " is the foundation of the edifice of our salvation, 
Hope is the body, and charity is the crown." Christian Hope will 
then be the subject of our instruction to-day. I propose telling 
you what we ought to Hope for from the goodness of God, and the 
qualities which should distinguish the Hope of the Christian. 

To Hope, is to expect with confidence a benefit, a favor, or any 
advantage whatever, which has been promised us. If the promise 
was made us by man, the Hope which we would have in the realiza- 
tion of his word, would be only a natural and purely human Hope : 
this is not the Hope which conducts to heaven. But our Hope is 
supernatural and divine, if, built upon faith, we Hope and expect 
such and such favors, because God has promised them to us. To 
Hope, in the Christian signification of the word, is to expect with 

141 



142 SHORT S li R M O N S . 

confidence the gifts which the goodness of God has condescended to 
promise us. This suhlime Hope is a supernatural virtue, which the 
Lord infused into our hearts, the moment the waters of baptism 
flowed upon our foreheads. It is this virtue which directs us to 
place our trust in God, and to cast, according to the language of 
the Scriptures, all our care upon the bosom of God, our Heavenly 
Father, to fly to Him in all our wants, and with the utmost confi- 
dence to expect from His bounty and paternal solicitude, every bless- 
ing which He has promised us, both for this life and the life to come. 
What are these blessings then, which we may expect with a firm 
confidence ? God loves all men, all without exception, and with 
the love of a father : He, therefore, most certainly wishes to make 
us all happy. He takes us all under His powerful protection ; 
and will consequently provide for the support of our existence ; He 
will defend us against our enemies ; He will console us in all our 
afflictions and all our disappointments. The Apostle St. Peter, was 
well persuaded of this consoling truth, when he invites us to unbosom 
ourselves of all those things which disturb our peace, and to cast 
our care on the Lord, because the Lord himself has care of us, to 
such a degree, that not a hair of our heads can fall to the ground 
without the permission of our heavenly Father, as Jesus Christ 
himself declared. This is what we Hope for, and expect from God 
in the present life ; but the promises w^hich He makes us for the life 
to come, are incomparably more magnificent. Enlightened by the 
bright rays of divine faith, we can say with the Apostle : " Blessed 
be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according 
to His great mercy, hath regenerated us unto a lively Hope, through 
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance 
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not, reserved in heaven 
for you.*'* Yes, my God, Thy infinite bounty promises to receive 
us into heaven, to associate us with the angels in happiness, to over- 
whelm our souls with a torrent of delights during all eternity ; but 
this inexpressible happiness will be given us only as the recompense 
of our virtues ; we must therefore render ourselves worthy of it, — 
we must merit it. Alas ! if of ourselves we are incapable of per- 
forming the least meritorious action ; if we are incapable even of 

* 1 St. Peter, i : 3, 4. 



1 



ON HOPE. 143 

conceiving a thought pleasing in the sight of God, how will we 
be able to gain heaven ? My Brethren, "It is good to confide in the 
Lord ;"* for "every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, 
coming from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, 
nor shadow of vicissitude. "f He knows our weakness, and He 
will make us strong ; our unworthiness, and He will render us 
worthy. The all-powerful aid of His grace is guaranteed to us ; His 
hand raises us up, if our hearts give away to compunction ; His 
goodness pardons us, if, having had the misfortune to fall into sin, 
we return to Him with tears of repentance. Yes, our God himself 
will render us worthy of that happiness which He promises ; and, 
as the royal prophet says, " the Lord will give to us grace and 
glory;" He will be our strength on earth, *' and our reward exceed- 
ingly great in heaven." 

Heaven and its graces ! to attain them, let us hope for them, let 
us expect them, without ever doubting, without ever wavering. 
"Let your hope," says St. Augustine, "be as certain and confident 
as if you already possessed the blessings you expect." For, in the 
words of the Apostle, " it is impossible for God to lie ; we may 
have the strongest comfort, who have fled for refuge, to hold fast the 
Hope set before us : which we have as an anchor of the soul, sure 
and firm."]; We must Hope with the utmost confidence. Why? 
Because it is God himself who has promised the blessings for 
which we Hope. No doubt, you have too much reason to mistrust 
the word and promises of man, for he has too often deceived you ; 
but God is "not like man. He lieth not, deceiveth not." The Lord 
our God, is truth itself, and nothing but the words of truth can ever 
issue from His mouth. He is infinitely just and good ; He will, 
therefore, be ever faithful to the promises which He has made us. 
He is all-powerful ; He can, therefore, always accomplish His 
designs, — He can grant every thing that He has promised ; and also, 
as St. Paul says, " God meaning more abundantly to show to the 
heirs of the promise the immutability of His counsel, interposed an 
oath."§ Our Hope rests on the word of God; it must therefore be 
firm, it must be unshaken ; for not only the word of God serves as its 
immovable basis, but it is likewise supported on the merits of our 

* Psalms, cxvii : 8. t St. James, i : 17. t Hebrews, vi : 18, 19. § Hebrews, vi : 17. 



14:4 SHORT SERMONS. 

Lord Jesus Christ. These merits are infinite ; thej are sufficient to 
obtain for us every thing necessary for our salvation. The price of 
all the graces we pray for has been paid in advance, and God, who 
accepted the ransom, has promised to grant us every thing we ask 
through the merits of His well beloved Son. ** man!" says St. 
Augustine, " what is it God has promised you ? That you would 
live eternally. What pledge has He given you ? He died for you. 
We have therefore the blood of Jesus Christ, — we have His death : 
God has already done more than remains to be done, and His gifts 
surpass His promises. Mortal man will live forever, since an 
immortal God has deigned to die for him." If, enemies as we 
were, we have been reconciled with God by the death of His only 
Son, with much greater reason, now that we are reconciled, may we 
hope to be saved through the life of this same Son, crucified and 
risen for us ! This was the thought which induced the Apostle St. 
Paul, to say to us : *' We have not a high priest, who can not have 
compassion on our infirmities ; ... let us go, therefore, with confi- 
dence to the throne of grace ; that we may obtain mercy, and find 
grace in seasonable aid to attain heaven,"* the end of all our hopes. 
Yes, my God, Thou hast promised to aid us with the assistance 
of Thy grace, to pardon our sins, to give us a place in the habita- 
tion of the blessed saints of heaven ! God desires, my Brethren, 
that we should never cease to Hope for these great blessings, — to 
sigh after that happiness which He has promised us ; but He also, 
without doubt, wishes that we should never lose sight of the con- 
dition to which He has attached the fulfillment of these magnificent 
promises. What is this condition ? That you consecrate your- 
selves, sincerely and generously, to His service ; that you place no 
obstacles to His blessings and graces ; that you faithfully fulfill His 
divine commandments. "God created you," says St. Augustine, 
** without your aid, but He will not save you without your cooper- 
ation." On your part you must do every thing in your power to 
accomplish the holy will of God, during your pilgrimage on earth ; 
for, to obtain eternal life, says our Saviour, it is necessary to keep the 
commandments. Is not this right, my Beloved Friends ? To acquire 
a fortune, what cares, what hardships, what labors do you not under- 

* Hebrews, iv: 15, 16. 



ON IIOPK. 145 

go? And if you succeed in obtaining it, — what have you? 
Nothing ; since you must leave all at your entrance into the tomb. 
But once in possession of the goods which God promises you, you 
will possess them for everlasting ages. Oh, no ; do not think you 
do too much in consecrating all your efforts, your mind, your heart, 
your soul and your body, to obtain the riches of eternity. If you 
get them at such a trifling cost, you have them for nothing. Nev- 
ertheless, till this day, we have always preferred the deceitful goods 
of this world : we have desired and coveted them ; we did every 
thing to acquire them, as if they could render us happy ; as if we 
were to live always on earth. "Thou fool, this night do they 
require thy soul of thee !"* Far more wise and prudent, the true 
Christian loves to consider himself as a traveller, directing his steps 
to a better country than that of this world. Ke preserves in his 
heart the love of the unutterable riches which God has prepared for 
His elect in another life. The Hope which he cherishes in his soul 
of one day enjoying this blessed immortality, prevents him from 
attaching himself to earthly goods, — leads him to despise the false 
and guilty pleasures of this world, and assists him to resist tempta- 
tions with courage, and support afflictions with patience. This 
expectation of eternal goods, which consoles him in his sorrows, is a 
defence to him alike against the dangers of adversity and the seduc- 
tions of prosperity. He knows that Christian patience will be 
crowned with glory in heaven ; he knows that the goods of this 
world are only shining dust, and he permits not his heart to be sul- 
lied by their love. He relishes the things which are above ; as the 
Apostle says : these are what he loves, — these he desires, — Hopes 
for. This Hope is laid up in his heart, ana he daily prays God to 
strengthen. it; hence the prayer which we call the act of Hope, is 
often on his lips. Frequently receite that beautiful prayer, that 
your Hope may be perfected, and elevated to the highest degree, 
that you may be detached from this world, to aspire with greater 
ardor after the possession of the eternal treasures and delights of 
heaven. — Amex. 

* St. Luke, xii : 20. 
18 



146 SHORT SERMONS. 



SERMON XXVIII. 
ON PRAYER IN GENERAL 



** Lord, teach us to pray." — St. Luke, xi : 1. 

We ought to expect from the paternal bounty of God, all graces 
and blessings conducive to our happiness in this world and the 
world to come. But what practical proof can we furnish that we 
really possess this sublime virtue of hope, and that we look with 
certainty for what God has promised ? The proof, my Brethren, is 
that we Pray to God, — that we invoke Him in our wants, and im- 
plore His aid and assistance. The poor man makes his appeal 
only to him from whose hand he expects an alms ; so we would 
not direct our Prayers to God, we would not ask His graces, did we 
not hope to obtain them from His bounty. We Pray, therefore 
we hope. This brings me to speak to you now of Prayer. 

What is Prayer ? How ought we to Pray ? This is what we 
all wish to learn, taught by the example of the Apostles, because 
we all know that in the great affair of salvation. Prayer is of the 
utmost importance. In fact, the prophet Joel reduces the whole 
science of salvation to the duty of Praying well ; he says : "Every 
one that shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved ;"* 
that is, "he who knows how to Pray well, knows how to live 
well," says St. Augustine, "and he who knows how to live well, 
has nothing more to learn ; he excels in the most important, the 
most necessary science, the science which makes saints, the science 
of salvation." What, therefore, is Prayer ? To Pray, is not to run 
over a prayer-book in a hasty manner, without attention or devo- 
tion ; neither is it to recite the Our Father and the Hail Mary with- 
out piety and without affection. There is no Prayer when the heart 
is silent. Prayer is either the praise of God, or the expression of our 

* Joel, ii : 32. 



ON PKAYEK IN GENERAL. 147 

own wants and miseries. "It is the elevation of the soul to God,'* 
an elevation which has for its aim to render to God the homage of 
adoration and thanksgiving which are due to Him, as our Sovereign 
Master and our Magnificent Benefactor. "Prayer is the acknowl- 
edgment which we make of our nothingness," our misery, our 
frailty, and it places in the bosom of God, as in the bosom of a 
Father, all our troubles, and all our sorrows. Prayer is a conversa- 
tion which we, though but dust and ashes, hold face to face, heart 
to heart with God ; and, in this conversation we deplore our mis- 
eries and weaknesses, and we implore the divine Mercies in our 
behalf. Prayer is an utterance of the desires of our soul and our 
heart ; it is the love, the desire of true goods. It is the heart which 
must Pray ; but if the heart be without desire, though your lips 
may speak, your Prayer will be but an empty sound. Prayer there- 
fore is to praise, to bless, to thank, and to implore the Lord. 

Is Prayer necessary ? Jesus Christ and the saints will answer 
this question. "Without me," says our divine Lord, "you can do 
nothing." St. Augustine remarks that Jesus Christ does not say : 
without me you can do nothing great, nothing heroic ; for, to attain 
heaven, it is not necessary to perform great and heroic deeds ; but 
He says absolutely : "Without me, you can do nothing." Aban- 
doned to yourselves, — left to your own natural weakness, what could 
you do against the unruly passions of your heart ? Nothing, my 
Brethren. Grace is necessary for you, before you can conceive even 
the first thought of doing good, — necessary, before you can have even 
the weakest desire of salvation. Without grace, no salvation, and 
ordinarily speaking, without Prayer, no grace. Grace will be given, 
but it will be to him who will ask for it ; it will be opened, but for 
him who will have knocked. Hence our divine Saviour warns us, 
"that we ought always to Pray ;"* "watch ye, and Pray, that ye 
enter not into temptation. "f Hence too, the Apostle tells us that, 
we must call upon the name of God, "by all Prayer and supplica- 
tion. Praying at all times in the spirit ; and in the same watching 
with all instance and supplication." J God is master of all His 
gifts, and in quality of master. He has the right to dispose of them 
on whatever conditions He pleases. Now, it is His will, that 

• St. Luke, xviii : 1. t St. Matthew, xxvi : 41. X Ephesians, vi : 18. 



148 SHORT SERMONS. 

Prayer should be one of these conditions. All therefore, — the just 
and the unjust, must Pray, "because," says St. Augustine, "graces 
which are so precious, so important, as to lead to eternal salvation, 
well deserve that we should ask them, without ever being disheart- 
ened." How necessary Prayer is. How useful. 

We belong to a God, who wishes and who is able to give us 
every thing necessary for us; and at what price ? Come, ye poor, 
come without gold and without silver ; come, ye sinners, come with- 
out merits, come in spite of your unworthiness ; "ask and you shall 
receive;" place no limits to your requests, for God places none to 
His gifts. Pray, and in your troubles you will be consoled, — in 
your temptations you will be fortified. Pray, and you can avoid 
sin, and will find yourselves strong enough to practice virtue. 
St. Chrysostom says: "Prayer is an anchor of safety for every one 
in danger of suffering shipwreck, an immense treasure of riches for 
him who is poor, a most efficacious remedy for him who is sick, 
a preservative for all who wish to remain in health." 

" If we do not Pray, we are inexcusable," says St. Alphonsus de 
Liguori, " for the grace of Prayer is given to every body. God 
gives to all the grace of Prayer, that all might obtain assistance, 
even abundant assistance, to keep his holy law, and persevere in the 
practice of it till death. If we are not saved, it will be entirely our 
own fault, and solely because we have not Prayed." Ask, and you 
may be sure you will receive ; it is Jesus Christ who promises this 
to you, and who even promises it with an oath : " Amen, amen, I 
say to you ; whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, will be 
given unto you," grace to do good, — assistance to avoid evil. 

But when must we Pray ? Our divine Saviour and His Apostles 
command us to Pray without ceasing, and not to grow faint, because 
our Prayers, to be commensurate with our wants, should be continual. 
It is a precept which we can not elude, so precise are the words of 
Jesus Christ. But, is not the fulfillment of this precept an impossi- 
bility ? My Brethren, the Lord does not require that you should be 
the whole day and night reciting Prayers ; He even wishes you to 
confine your Prayers to a few words, and that you be very careful 
not to neglect the duties of your state, to consecrate all your time 
to the holy exercise of Prayer. But does He not enjoin us to Pray 
unceasingly ? He does. But what He means is, that the spirit of 



ON PRAYER IN GENERAL. 149 

piety and devotion should never depart from your hearts, — that you 
never cease loving God, observing His laws, and that you should 
ever be found faithfully fulfilling the duties of your vocation. St. 
Augustine says to us : "In every thing you do, seek the holy will 
of God ; attend to your business ; fulfill all the obligations of your 
state of life ; labor with the intention of pleasing God, — offering 
to Him every day of your life; and, so doing, you will accomplish 
the precept of Jesus Christ, — you will Pray without ceasing." 

Pray when temptation comes upon you, for then you need to be 
strengthened. ''Watch ye, and pray, that ye enter not into temp- 
tation,"* said our divine Redeemer to His disciples. He who does 
not Pray is vanquished. Pray; God will combat with you, and 
your triumph is certain. All the powers of hell can not overcome 
him whom God supports. 

Pray when affliction and adversity come upon you. The Holy 
Ghost says to us : " Is any of you sad ? let him Pray ;"f you will 
receive aid and consolation, and "your sorrow shall be turned 
into joy."! 

Pray before meals. Invoke the blessing of God on the nourishment 
you are about to take, that it may benefit your body, — that all temp- 
tation of sensuality may be removed from you, — that you may not 
abandon yourselves to any excess in eating or drinking, and that 
you may by this very act, acquire merit before God. Yes, before 
your meals, implore the bounty of God, who opens His hands, and 
every creature is filled with proofs of His liberality. After your meals, 
return thanks to the Lord : it is His paternal solicitude that pro- 
vided for your subsistence, as it provided for the little birds of the 
air. The bread which is given you to eat, you have received from 
His providence ; prove your gratitude then, by returning thanks to 
your heavenly Father for His goodness. 

Pray every morning and evening. Why in the morning? 
Becuiuse God has watched over you during the night, and kept you 
in health and strength. You should Pray in the morning, because 
you ought to offer and consecrate to God all your labor, your 
occupations, your thoughts, your troubles, your toils, and all your 
actions. You should Pray in the morning, so that God may shower 

» St. Matthew, xxvi : 41. f St. James, v : 13. $ St. John, xvi : 20. 



150 SHORT SERMONS. 

down His graces upon you, and assist you to v/alk during the day in 
the brightness of His holy light, in such a manner that you may 
avoid evil and do good. 

You ought to pray in the evening. Why so ? Because it is 
your duty to return thanks to Providence, for the benefits He has 
heaped upon you during the day, now come to a close ; because you 
ought to ask mercy and pardon for the many faults you have com- 
mitted during the day. Finally, you ought to pray every evening, 
that God may take care of you during the night, and grant you a 
sound and a peaceful repose. 

We all easily admit, my Brethren, that we at all times stand in 
need of the assistance of God ; we need His assistance to preserve 
our lives to labor in a Christian-like manner, to practice virtue, 
to escape the misfortunes to which we are daily and constantly 
exposed. We should then as readily admit the necessity in which 
we are placed of having recourse to God every morning and every 
night ; and yet, not small is the number of those, who, some through 
the pressure of their business and worldly affairs, others through 
levity and dissipation ; one class through discouragement and dis- 
gust; another through pure indolence and shameful sloth, neglect 
without scruple their morning and evening Prayers, rise up and lie 
down like the beasts of the field, without one thought on the God 
that made them. Alas ! these pretended disciples of Jesus Christ 
will soon have neither faith nor religion, for faith and religion can 
not be preserved without exercise, and can not be exercised without 
Prayer. 

To be consoled and strengthened in our troubles, to escape the 
evils which threaten our body and our soul, every day and every 
hour of our life, we must pray. To preserve our heart and soul in 
peace and tranquillity, to be happy, we must pray. We must 
pray, for it is from God that every perfect gift comes. Have then 
a great esteem for Prayer. Every day elevate your hearts toward 
God your Father, and full of a holy confidence in His goodness and 
His love, ask from Him assistance, strength, patience and courage. 
If you preserve in your hearts the holy intention of doing all for His 
glory and the salvation of souls, be you sure, that God on His part, 
will hear and grant your Prayei's and supplications, for He desires 
our happiness in this world and in the world to come. — Amen. 



CONDITIONS OF PRAYER. 161 



SERMOIi XXIX. 

CONDITIONS OF PRAYER. 



"Ask, and you shall receive." — St. Johx, xvi : 24. 

Prayer is necessary ; it is the means ordained by Grod to obtain 
from His goodness the graces and the assistance of which we stand 
in need. Prayer is very efficacious ; it obtains from God every 
thing requisite for our happiness in this world, and in the world to 
come, since the Saviour has said to us : whatever you shall ask 
my heavenly Father in my name, He will give unto you. They 
who care little for Prayer, care little for their salvation. Yet, my 
Brethren, the Lord God does not hear every Prayer. To render 
our supplications acceptable in His sight, they must be accompanied 
with true sorrow for our sins ; and they must also be offered with 
recollection and confidence. Let us carefully consider these Condi- 
tions of well made Prayer. 

The first disposition for praying well, is sorrow for the faults 
which we have committed. "We are all sinners, and if any one 
says he is without sin, the truth is not in him," says the Holy 
Ghost. But is not our condition as sinners an obstacle to the effi- 
cacy of Prayer ? In the state of sin, can we pray, and pray even 
through Jesus Christ ? Yes, if this Prayer proceeds, if not from a 
will already determined, if not from a resolution already formed to 
forsake sin, at least from a heart sincerely deploring its attachment 
to sin, asking strength to break asunder its chains, and suffering 
because it is not repentant enough. But it is impossible to offe;- an 
acceptable Prayer, — and consequently your Prayer will be without 
effect, if you have neither shame nor regret for your sins ; if, far 
from having recourse to Jesus Christ, to beg Him for aid to break 
the bonds that bind you to sin, you for months and years resist His 
grace, so sweetly and so patiently pressing you to abandon the 
ways of iniquity. How indeed can God hear your Pra,yers and 



162 S H O K T rS E K M O N S . 

grant your desires, while you are determined to persevere in sin, 
which excites His indignation ; while you continue to violate His 
commandments, to despise His graces, and trample under foot His 
divine will ? The most indulgent of fathers would refuse to comply 
with the desires of an ungrateful son, who would continually insult 
and outrage him. He would at least require, that the guilty offender 
should humble himself, and acknowledge his fault, before his pater- 
nal hand would be opened to shower upon him his favors anew ; — 
this would be just, — who can doubt it ? And you, my dear Brethren, 
Pray, and yet continue to love sin ; you Pray, and sin still rules as 
master in your hearts ; do not then expect that God will hear you. 
God rejects the Prayer which you address to Him from your mouth, 
and not from your heart. He tells us: "When you stretch forth 
your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you ; and when you 
multiply Prayer, I will not hear,"* for your hands are full of 
iniquities. 

If you wish that God would hear your Prayers, avoid anger and 
dissension. "I will," says St. Paul, "therefore, that men Pray in 
every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger and strife. "f 

If you wish that God would hear your Prayers, be not implacable 
toward those who have injured you. "When you shall stand to 
Pray," says our divine Lord, "forgive, if you have any thing against 
any man ; that your Father also, who is in heaven, may forgive 
you your sins. "J Again, he says, "if you will not forgive men, 
neither will your Father forgive you your sins,"§ 

If yoii wish that God would hear your Prayers, cease to be hard- 
hearted toward the unfortunate. "He that stoppeth his ear against 
the cry of the poor, shall also cry himself, and shall not be heard." || 

If you wish that God would hear your Prayers, renounce pride, 
which so much displeases Him. You know that the Holy Ghost 
has said: "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the 
humble."^ 

Take care that the voice of the sins which you have committed, 
cry not louder than the voice of your Prayers. Hardened in crime, 
you Pray, and your Prayer is not heard, for Jesus Christ Prays not 



» Tsaias, i : 15. f 1 Timothy, ii ; 8. ^ St.. Mark, xi : 25, 

^ St, Matthew, vi : 15. [i Proverbs, xxi : 13. ? St. James, iv: 6. 



CONDITIONS OF PRAYEK. 153 

with you. "He is indeed the Advocate of sinners," says St. Au- 
gustine, **but He will never be the advocate of sin." God will 
hear you, if you commence by humbling yourselves in His presence, 
by asking forgiveness of Him, by saying to Him : "Lord, be thou 
merciful to me ; heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee." * 
Let this cry be sincere, and really spring from your heart, and, 
though you have committed the most heinous crimes, be assured 
that God will lend a propitious ear to your petition. 

The second disposition for Praying well, is recollection. What 
is Prayer ? It is a conversation with God. In Prayer, the soul is, 
as it were, admitted and introduced into the sanctuary of the Lord ; 
it lays before Him its wants, makes known its temptations, and its 
infirmities ; it honors Him, glorifies Him, adores Him, thanks Him, 
and implores His mercies. Such an act of religion ought not to be 
a mere outward practice. On the contrary. Prayer demands all the 
application and earnestness of our minds and hearts, and, when our 
soul Prays, every human and profane object should disappear from 
our mind. No, it is not lawful, to let our minds be occupied with 
foreign and useless thoughts, when we are speaking to the Lord, 
our God. Our Prayers should spring from the heart, and what we 
ask from the Almighty, should be the object present to our thoughts. 

You would consider yourself slighted and insulted, if any one 
coming to transact some important business with you, instead of 
attending to what he was saying, would laugh, talk and joke with 
others at the very same time. What then must God think of us, 
and how great is the injury we offer His majesty, when we entreat 
Him and praise Him with our mouths, — when we offer Him a lip- 
service, while our hearts are far from Him. To whom do you speak 
in Prayer ? To that God, who, with one hand, measures the waters 
of the deep, and with the other supports the entire weight of the 
heavens ; before whose glance mountains melt away, and all nations 
become as if they were not. And what do you ask ? Ah ! did 
you think seriously on it, you would soon find the deepest recollection 
spring up in your hearts. In fact, you ask the possession of God 
himself, the heritage of glory, and an eternity of happiness : you 
can ask nothing greater, and yet in this action so holy and so 



* Paaimp, xl : 5~. 



154 SHORT SERMONS, 

sublime, you manifest only coldness and indifference. How tlien 
can you expect that God will hear you ? 

But is it always a sin to be distracted in Prayer ? No, my 
Brethren. If these distractions are not voluntary, if they displease 
you, if you do all that is in your power to prevent them, far from 
injuring your Prayers, they become themselves a Prayer, as St. 
Augustine tells us. They are occasions for acquiring merit, whether 
they come directly from God, who wishes to try you, or from the 
devil, who is jealous of the graces which you receive to strengthen 
you against his evil suggestions. Take care to profit by these ever 
salutary occasions. 

But be careful also that these distractions be not willful, that you 
do not yield to them, that you do not seek them, or that you neglect 
to reject them when they occur. If they be the effect of your will, or 
of your negligence, the Holy Ghost tells you that your very Prayer is 
changed into sin, and by no means deserves to be heard. What do 
I say : you yourselves do not desire that it should be heard. In 
truth says St. Cyprian: ''How does it appear that you ardently 
wish that God should hear you, when you do not hear yourselves V 
I beseech you then, my Brethren, and you know how sincerely I 
desire your salvation and your happiness, to consider, that when you 
pray, you have the honor and glory of speaking to the sovereign 
Master of heaven and earth. While you pray, think of God, think 
of what you ask Him, and ask with confidence, which is the last 
disposition of praying well. 

Be assured, my Brethren, that the Lord will hear your Prayer, if 
what you ask can contribute to His glory, to the sanctification and 
salvation of your own soul. The Apostle St. James forbids us to 
doubt and hesitate : he says to us : *'If any of you want wisdom, 
let him ask of God, who giveth to all abundantly, and upbraideth 
not : and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing 
wavering ; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, that is 
moved and carried about by the wind. Therefore, let not that man 
think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord."* Why would 
you doubt ? You are supported by the promise of God himself : 
*'Ask," He says, "and you shall receive." Why would you hesitate? 

* St. James, i : 5, 6, 7. 



c o N L) ir I c) >; s o f j' r a y k k , 155 

It is the Holy Ghost who prays in us ; it is the Son of God who 
prays for us, He who died, rose again and sitteth at the right hand 
of His Father. We are indeed unworthy of obtaining any thing by 
ourselves ; but let us begin our Prayer by the acknowledgment of 
our weakness, of our unworthiness, and immediately two persons 
of the most adorable Trinity will come to our assistance : the Son 
of God, who is the Just One, is our Advocate and the propitiation 
for our sins ;* and the Holy Ghost, whom we have received, and in 
whom we cry; Father, Father !f Hence the Apostle exhorts us to 
approach the throne of grace with the utmost confidence. 

But sometimes our Prayers are not granted, and St. Augustine 
rejoices at it ; because the refusal is for our advantage. God refuses 
our request, to give us something better ; He prefers rather to resist 
us than gratify desires which would have, perhaps, led us astray. 
Do not murmur then, my Christian Friends, if God is slow in 
granting your petition ; submit to the Divine will, and avoid that 
language which we so often hear in the world: "It is no use for 
me to pray ; I obtain nothing, neither the removal of this cross 
which is so heavy, nor the cure of that disease which afflicts and 
ruins me." But, my dear Brethren, if hitherto your Prayer has 
not been granted, it is because you did not pray well, — you did not 
ask with proper dispositions. Beside, would what you asked have 
been advantageous to your immortal soul, would it have contributed 
to your eternal salvation ? Perhaps, though you considered it a 
blessing, it would have filled your heart with vanity and pride ; and 
free from the cross and from trouble, you would perhaps forget 
your God and the salvation of your soul. God wishes to avert 
from you so great a calamity. It may be, that restored to perfect 
health and strength, you would abandon yourselves to the indulgence 
of your passions, and plunge into every species of vice. God 
wishes to prevent you from falling into so great a misfortune. 
Return thanks then to the Lord, who loves you much more than 
you love yourself. But, you tell me that what you request is good 
and salutary for you, and yet God is slow in granting your desires : 
]SIy dear child, if God does not satisfy your w^ishes in the very 
commencement, it is to make you feel the value of His favors, to 

» 1 St. John, ii : 1, 2. t Romans, viii : 15, 



156 SHOliT SERMONS. 

prove your faith, to exercise your patience, to render you more 
humble, more attentive, more watchful over yourself. No, do not 
murmur; have confidence, and continue to pray as you ought, and 
God will grant your request in his own good time ; for He wishes 
your happiness both in this world and the world to come. — Amen. 



SERMON XXX. 

FIRST WORDS OF THE PATER NOSTER. 

THE LORD'S PRAYER. 



*' You, therefore, shall pray in this manner : Our Father, "w^ho art in heaven." — 
St. Matthew, vi : 9. 

Prayer, to be agreeable to God and profitable to him who prays, 
must come from a heart penetrated with sorrow at sight of its own 
unworthiness, and must be made v/ith recollection, accompanied with 
a great confidence in God. But what are we allowed to ask of the 
Lord ? My Brethren, God himself places upon our lips the petitions 
which we ought to address to Him, and we find them admirably 
expressed in the Lord's Prayer. This beautiful Prayer teaches us 
both the duties which we have to fulfill, and the desires which we 
ought to form : it is necessary, therefore, that I should explain it 
to you, in all its parts. I intend doing so with the divine grace, 
and to-day I will tell you the meaning of the first words of the 
Lord's Prayer : " Our Father, who art in heaven." 

Prayer made in the name of Jesus Christ and with the necessary 
conditions, is always pleasing to God and useful to the soul. But, 
my Brethren, can we pray better, in the name of our Saviour, than 
when we have on our lips the Prayer which He himself composed ? 
The Lord's Prayer comes from the Son of God himself. There is no 
Prayer more dear to the heart of God ; there is none more perfect, 
none more salutary, none which rises with greater facility toward 
heaven, since from heaven it descended. 



THE lord's prayer. 157 

It is true, my Brethren, we can use other forms, and employ 
other expressions, when we speak to God ; but it is not lawful for 
lis to address to Him petitions which are not contained in the Lord's 
Prayer. Why so ? Because it contains all that is necessary ; if 
we stood in need of any thing else, our divine Saviour would most 
assuredly have expressed it in the Prayer which He taught ns. 
Would not asking more be as if you were to say to the Son of God : 
" I know better than you what I need and what is useful and neces- 
sary for me?" No, no, my dear child, you do not know better 
than the Incarnate Word of God, what you ought to ask from 
heaven. Listen, then, to Jesus Christ, and say, from the bottom 
of your heart. His divine Prayer : " Our Father, who art in heaven.'* 

The first word that the Son of God teaches us to pronounce, is 
the sweet name of Father. Do you desire to obtain any favor from 
the great ones of this world ? You take care to begin your petition 
by bestowing upon them the name and titles which they value and 
cherish most. In like manner, according to the order of Jesus 
Christ, when we pray to God, we forget, in a manner, all the attri- 
butes which place Him at such an immense distance from us, and 
which can only inspire us with sentiments of fear, and all, just and 
unjust, give to the God of glory and majesty the endearing name 
of Father, because it is by this name, above all others, signifying as 
it does tenderness and compassion, that He wishes to be known. 
Does not the Apostle St. Paul tell us that our God is the source of 
all paternity, that is to say, of all goodness ? Does not our Lord 
delight to call himself "the Father of mercies and the God of all 
consolation?" 0! yes, the name of Father is well suited to the 
God who created, redeemed, and by His providence, preserves us. 

We are the children of God, "we are the race of God," as the 
Spirit of Truth declares, and it is through " Him we live, move and 
have our being."* He created us to His own image and likeness, 
a favor which He has not granted to other beings ; hence He desires 
that the Sacred Scriptures call Him the Father of all men, and par- 
ticularly of the faithful. Our heavenly Father continually watches 
over us, and with so much care that a hair cannot fall from our 
head without His permission, and that, every day, His bountiful 

» Acts, XV ii : 28. 



158 SHORT SERMONS. 

providence sends us the bread which we need, to support our lives. 
He bears our names written in His hand, and never forsakes us ; so 
much so, that this God of goodness wills that a prince of heaven, — 
an angel, should ever attend at our side and keep continual watch 
over us. 

We are the children of God, and we **have received the spirit of 
adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba, Father."* We were sin- 
ners, — we were children of wrath, and heaven was closed against 
us ; but God has paid our ransom. See, therefore, what love God, 
the Father, has testified unto us, that we might have the name of 
the children of God, and which, in reality, we possess. 

Behold, how the well-beloved Son of God is made flesh, takes 
upon Himself our iniquities, and humbles Himself, becoming obe- 
dient even unto the death of the cross, that He might redeem us, — 
that He might save us ; that we might become the children of God, 
His brothers, and the co-heirs of His glory. Well may I then address 
you in those beautiful words of the Apostle St. John : ** Dearly be- 
loved, we are now the sons of God : and it hath not yet appeared 
what we shall be. We know, that when He shall appear, we shall 
be like to Him : because we shall see Him as He is." f 

It was not without the most charitable design, that our divine 
Lord wished us to commence our Prayer by the words " Our Father." 
He wished by this sweet name to awaken in our hearts the love we 
should ever bear to God, because He is our Father. And He would 
also by it fill our souls with the firmest confidence in His bounty. 
In fact, my Brethren, what is there that God will not give to those 
who have recourse to Him, since before they asked it. He gave them 
the grace of being His children ? He grants us then the liberty of 
approaching Him, as children approach their father ; of asking from 
Him whatever we desire, for it is almost out of His power any 
longer to refuse us any thing. "If you then, being evil," says our 
divine Lord, "know how to give good gifts to your children, how 
much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to 
them that ask Him." | 

Jesus Christ did not teach us to say my Father, but Our Father ; 
Why so ? To excite charity among men, and to teach us that we 

* Romans, viii : 15. t 1 St. John, iii : 2. % St. Matthew, vii : 11. 



159 

should desire as well the happiness and the progress in virtue of 
others, as our own, and should ask the blessings of God for them, 
as well as for ourselves. God willingly hears a Christian who 
prays not only for himself, but for others also. Jesus Christ wishes 
that we should say, Our Father ; to remind us that we are all 
brethren, and that there is but one Father of us all, who is in 
heaven ;* it is to teach us to renounce our pride and self-love, 
which prompt us to prefer ourselves to others ; it is to destroy 
among us every seed of hatred and division, and that we might all 
live together in the unity of faith, and bond of peace. The first Chris- 
tians well understood what was meant by the words, Our Father ; 
seeing them so intimately united, men exclaimed with astonish- 
ment : "Behold how they love one another." 

God is in all places by His immensity; why then does our 
Saviour wish that we should say, "Our Father, who art in heaven ? '* 
Because it is in heaven that God has established His throne ; there 
He manifests His majesty and His glory to the elect ; there He mul- 
tiplies the effusions of His liberality, and inundates with happiness 
the souls of His saints. Our loving Lord wished also to awaken 
our faith and fortify our hope, by placing before us the ravishing 
object which alone can satisfy the infinite desires of our heart, — 
the abode of the elert, — where our reward exceedingly great awaits 
us, toward which we should elevate our thoughts and our desires, 
and which we must labor to attain. Yes, my Brethren, when we 
pray to our Father who is in heaven, let us raise up our thoughts 
above the things of earth. Let us avoid Praying only for temporal 
advantages, often dangerous to our salvation, while our heavenly 
Father invites us to ask for eternal blessings. God loves you, for 
He is your Father ; He knows your wants, — He knows what is ne- 
cessary for your present and future happiness, and what it will serve 
you to attain : have confidence ; He will grant you temporal bless- 
ings, but it will be when you seek first the kingdom of God and 
His justice, then every thing else will be added unto you. My dear 
Brethren, every time you are about to pray to God, do not fail to 
say within yourselves : I am now going to converse with my God, 
and to speak to Him of what I most need for my soul and body. 

» St. Matthew, xxiii : 9. 



160 SHORT SEKMONS. 

I will speak to my God who is in heaven, who permits me to call 
Him my Father, — to my God, who loves me as an only child, who 
watches over me every day, and who overshadows me with His 
paternal care. He knows my wants, but He wishes me to pray to 
Him, and I ought to do so with all the confidence of a child speak- 
ing to its father. Yes, my Brethren, this is the way in which you 
must pray to your Father, who is in heaven. Repeat often the 
Prayer which our Lord taught you, and be assured that your God, 
your Father, will favorably receive your Prayers ; He will grant 
your requests, and give you grace to attain happiness here and 
hereafter. — Amen. 



SERMON XXXL 

FIRST PETITION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

THE LORD'S PRAYER.— (continued.) 



" Not to us, Lord, not to us ; but to Thy name give glory."^PsALMS, cxiii : 1. 

The Lord's Prayer is the best Prayer we can address to God, for 
it has been taught us by the Son of God himself. It begins by 
these beautiful words : " Our Father, who art in heaven." This 
endearing name of Father^ which God permits us to give Him, 
reveals to us His immense goodness and His boundless charity. It 
teaches us that the Lord yields to our entreaties, that He pardons 
our sins, and that, by a most glorious adoption. He has chosen us 
as His children, and wills that His well-beloved Son should call us 
his brethren. A God so perfect ought to be adored from the bottom 
of our hearts : a God so good, so merciful, ought to be loved with 
the liveliest and most intense love : hence we must ardently desire 
and fervently pray that "His name maybe hallowed." Such is the 
first petition of the Lord's Prayer, which I propose making the 
subject of my instruction to you to-day. The Lord's Prayer con- 



THE lord's prayer. 161 

tains seven petitions, which inchides every thing we ought to ask of 
God, whether it be for His glory, or our own spiritual or temporal 
interests. The three first petitions relate to God, and the four last 
refer to ourselves. 

In the three first, we ask of God that His name may be sancti- 
fied, that He may reign over us, and that His holy will may be 
accomplished. By putting these petitions in the beginning of His 
Prayer, our divine Saviour would remind us of the main end of 
Prayer, which is to honor God ; and, as good children, who love 
their father more than themselves, we occupy ourselves first about 
His interests, before we think of taking care of our own. 

In the four other petitions, we lay bare our wants before the 
Almighty : we ask from Him food for soul and body, — the necessa- 
ries of life ; we beg of Him to grant us the pardon of our sins, to 
help us to overcome temptation, to support our weakness, and to 
deliver us from all evils, both in this life and in the life to come. 
Such is the plan of this divine Prayer, which contains every thing 
that the most learned divines, or the holiest saints can pray for. It 
is a fund which cannot be exhausted. See if it be not so, by a con- 
sideration of what is contained in the first petition : ** Hallowed be 
Thy name.*' 

Men desire and seek only those things which they do not already 
possess, but which they feel to be wanting to them. Now, the divine 
Nature is wanting in nothing ; God possesses in himself every im- 
aginable perfection, and in an infinite degree. He can receive 
nothing in time which He has not had from all eternity ; He is sus- 
ceptible neither of improvement nor increase, since He is infinite and 
perfect, under all respects. The name of God marks His essence, 
that is to say, God himself, — all that He is, — His whole being, — all 
His divine attributes and perfections ; in so much, that this name is 
infinitely holy and immutable. What then do we ask by this first 
petition of the Lord's Prayer, — " Hallowed be Thy name ?" Do we 
pray that God would become still more holy ? This would be to 
offer an insult to God, who is holiness itself, and whose perfections 
are infinite. What we ask of God for himself regards neither 
His perfections, nor His nature, but only His external glory : "Hal- 
lowed be Thy name ! " Behold the first desire of a good son : he 
wishes that hit* father may be known, loved, cherished and esteemed 
14 



162 SHORT SERMONS. 

tlirougliout the whole world. Such is the wish, such is the desire, 
my Brethren, which you form at the commencement of your Prayer : 
you testify to your heavenly Father the ardent desire you have of 
seeing Him, who is worthy of all glory, revered, served, glorified 
and adored by the whole universe ; you ask that His name, that is 
to say, that himself, may be blessed and extolled by all mankind ; 
you pray that to yourself God would grant every necessary grace, 
by which you too may be able to contribute to the glory of your 
Father and render to Him your share of fitting homage, by advanc- 
ing continually in the practice of every good work. Such is the 
first petition \fhich we make to God, after acknowledging Him as 
our Father; for the desire that God may be blessed is essential to a 
Christian, and God's glory should be his first and principal object, 
the one which should occupy the first place in his heart, as St. 
Chrysostom tells us. 

To make you understand this petition more perfectly, you must 
know, that although God is infinitely holy, nevertheless His holiness 
is very far from being acknowledged by the whole world. To be 
convinced of this, let us glance over the globe, and see what kind 
of people inhabit it. We can not be ignorant that there are yet 
entire nations who have not the happiness of knowing the true God ; 
w^ho do not honor nor adore Him. Such are the nations, who to 
this very day, are buried in the darkness of infidelity and idolatry. 
Many know the true God, but they do not honor Him as He wishes 
to be honored ; they do not render to Him the homage of a pure 
faith and a perfect worship : such are heretics and schismatics. We 
see many others who, though reared in the true Church, and believ- 
ing the word of God, nevertheless do not glorify His name, for 
they lead evil lives ; these are wicked Catholics. Well then, my 
Brethren, whenever we repeat this petition: "Hallowed be Thy 
name," we beg of God, we beseech Him, that of His mercy He 
would shed the light of faith upon the minds of those poor pagan 
nations, and lead them from the darkness of infidelity, to this fold 
of Jesus Christ. We entreat Him to bring back to the bosom of 
the true Church, all heretics and schismatics ; we implore Him to 
touch the hearts of sinners by His grace, and thereby lead them to a 
true and lasting conversion, — to a sincere repentance ; and, in fine, we 
supplicate Him to impress us all with the salutary conviction, that 



THE lord's prayer. 1()3 

there is nothing so clreadiiil as sin, nothing so deplorable as the loss 
of His grace. This is what we ask by these words : " Hallowed be 
Thy name." We pray that the hearts of all men may be elevated 
to God, — that they may be closely united with Him, and present to 
Him a pure, a holy, and an acceptable worship, such as the angels 
and the saints offer in the kingdom of heaven. 

You must remark that wdien you ask that the name of your 
heavenly Father may be hallowed, you acknowledge your obligation 
of doing all in your power to have this adorable name worthily 
praised and honored by all around you. You engage yourselves to 
perform your w^ork, to discharge your duties, to conduct your affairs 
to the greater honor and glory of God. You ought, therefore, by 
good advice and wholesome instruction, endeavor to bring up your 
children, and all those under your charge, in the love and practice 
of Christian virtue. You should say nothing, you should do 
nothing, you should permit nothing that w^ould be displeasing to 
God. You ought to prevent evil everywhere, w'hen it be in your 
power to do so. You should in a Christian spirit oppose all such as 
curse or swear or blaspheme, — and should not permit your children 
or servants or work people to associate with them. You should on 
all occasions give good example. You should, in fine, devote your- 
selves to fulfilling these words of our Saviour : "Let your light so 
shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify 
your Father who is in heaven."* Do we, my brethren, act thus ? 
Alas ! your conduct is a flagrant contradiction to your professions 
and your prayers. Examine, and judge for yourselves ; every day 
you pray, "Hallowed be Thy name," that God may be known, 
honored, loved, and served by the whole world; and yet every day 
you insult the Lord ; every day your sinful tongues utter impreca- 
tions and blasphemies ; every day you abandon your hearts to the 
slavery of sin. There is no day on which you do not say, let thy 
name, Lord ! he hallowed, and yet you do not what you can and 
ought to do, to extend God's glory. It is through your fault, in 
fact, that your children and domestics remain in culpable ignorance 
of the things of God, — unacquainted with the sacred truths of reli- 
gion ; nay, perhaps, even you have sent these children to wricked 

» St. Matthew, V : 16. 



164 SHORT SERMONS. 

schools, and given them in charge to impious teachers, who mold 
their tender minds to vice and infidelity. You who act thus, fail in 
one of your most essential duties ; with you the Lord is not known, 
nor loved, nor served. 

But is it not just that our divine Lord should ordain us to ask, 
in the first place, that the name of our heavenly Father be hallowed, 
and for grace, that we may contribute to extend the glory of God, 
and procure for Him the adoration and homage of every heart ? 
Is not our God, Supreme Master, and has He not created all things 
for His own glory, for himself? Yes, children of God, if your 
hearts are in the right place, you will seek above all things the 
glory of your Father, who is in heaven, and you will do all that 
you can, so that on earth, as far as possible, the name of the Lord 
may be blessed, honored, praised, and hallowed, by every tongue 
and by every heart. If you are the true children of God, you will 
rejoice when you behold virtuous men leading others in the paths 
of virtue, teaching them to glorify the name of the Lord. If you 
are the true children of God, your hearts will be oppressed with 
sorrow, when you see the wicked, by bad example, leading others 
into vice and sin, and blaspheming the name of the Most High. 
Take care, my Brethren, take care, that you be not so ungrateful 
toward God, as to regard with an equal eye, good and evil. And, 
nevertheless, how many a time have you not seemingly said : what 
matters it to me whether God be praised and honored, or whether 
He be despised and insulted by others ? If you have not at heart 
the salvation of men, you take no interest whatever in the glory of 
God; and may we not well suppose that you are guilty of deceit, 
when you dare say to the Almighty, "Hallowed be Thy name ?*' 
But do you even honor God yourselves ? You pray ; but do you 
avoid sin? I must tell you, my Brethren, if you keep in your 
hearts the love of sin, the desire and the will of violating the holy 
law of God, you bless not, you praise not, but you outrage the 
Lord, when you say to Him: "Hallowed be Thy name." Be 
assured, God will not condescend to hear you. He will despise your 
petition, you who act in this manner, exhibiting in your conduct 
the very contrary of what you ask in your prayers. From this very 
moment, my Brethren, let us renounce every thing that God pro- 
hibits ; let us abandon the ways of sin ; let us love to labor for the 



THE LORD S PRAYEK. 1()0 

honor and the glory of God ; let us seek before all things the king- 
dom of heaven ; that is to say, God himself, and the holiness which 
conducts us to Him, and then may we say with truth : Hallowed 
be Thy name. God will then hear us, He Avill be sanctified in us, 
and around us, and His benediction will become our lot, for this 
world and for the world to come. — Amen. 



SERMON XXXII. 

SECOND AND THIRD PETITIONS OF THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

THE LORD'S PR A YER.— (continued.) 



" Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." — St. 
Matthew, vi : 10. 

In the first petition of the Lord's Prayer, we desire that the Lord 
our God, may be known, loved, honored and served throughout the 
whole world, as He is known, loved, honored and served in heaven. 
'* Hallowed be Thy name;" by addressing this Prayer to God, we, 
in some manner engage ourselves to walk constantly in the practice 
of virtue, that we may thereby contribute to the glory of God, for 
it is in His saints that the Lord finds His glory. This is what I 
explained to you in our last instruction. You listened to me with 
attention,, and I hope with profit : I beg of you to extend to me 
the same good will, while I unfold to you the second and third 
petitions of the Lord's Prayer. 

"Thy kingdom come;" such is the second petition of the 
Lord's Prayer. Now what do w^e ask by these words from the 
goodness of God ? We ask not only one kingdom, but three 
kingdoms, all three most worthy of our sighs and our desires, all 
three presenting us the most inestimable advantages. We pray for 
the kingdom of the Church which our Saviour established, which 
He unceasingly directs, and from which He will never withdraw 
HiK aid and support. We pray for the kingdom of grace ; that it 



166 SHORT SERMONS* 

may enlighten, animate and fortify all hearts ; that it may enable 
them to resist temptation and overcome all the obstacles which beset 
the road to heaven. We pray for that kingdom which the Lord 
recommends us to seek before all things, — the kingdom of heaven, 
** that kingdom," says St. Augustine, "where truth is the only 
king, charity the only law, and which has eternity for its duration." 
Behold, my Brethren, the great and holy things which we ask 
from God, by these words : "Thy kingdom come." The Prophet 
Isaias says to the Church of God : " Enlarge the place of thy tent, 
and stretch out the skins of thy tabernacles, spare not : lengthen thy 
cords, and strengthen thy stakes ; for thou shalt pass on to the right 
hand, and to the left ; for He that made thee shall rule over thee."* 
"The Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon 
thee. And the gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the 
brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see : 
all these are gathered together, they are come to thee : thy sons 
shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side.f" 
It is the accomplishment of these words that we beg of God to bring 
about in the world. Let thy Church, my God, be extended over 
the whole earth ; let the truth which Thou didst bring to mankind, 
shine as a brilliant light before the eyes of all, and may the nations 
that sit in the darkness of idolatry, and in the shadow of death, 
emerge from error, know and love the truth, which is the food of 
the mind and the life of the soul. "Thy Kingdom come;" may 
nations "and kings cease to rage and devise vain things against the 
Lord and against His Christ," against His Church, the guardian of 
the only true religion ; may heresies be extinguished, schisms 
vanish, incredulity die, so that there may be but one fold, and one 
shepherd, leading all in the way of truth to the possession of God. 
"Thy Kingdom come ;" may the authority of the Church of God 
find none but docile hearts among the disciples of Jesus Christ ; 
may there be no longer found in it such as confess God with their 
mouths, but deny Him by their actions, whose faith is dead, and 
over whom sin and the devil rule as masters ; may the ^oor of the 
House of God be completely cleansed, and may all, in peace, security 
and justice, render to God their reverence and adoration. The 

» Isaias, liv: 2, 3, 5. f Isaias, Ix: 2, .3, 4. 



THE lord's P BAYER. 167 

triumpli of religion, tlie propagation of the faith, and the prosperit}' 
of the Church, these are in a few words, what we ask in the first 
place, when we say ; "Thy kingdom come." 

But, my Brethren, our wants are great and our wanderings 
frequent. We form good resolutions, yet rarely carry them into 
effect. "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, 
sold under sin. For that which I work, I understand not. For I do 
not that which I will, but the evil which I hate, that I do."* I 
must maintain a fearful struggle against the powers of darkness, — 
against my own flesh and against the world, and I am so weak ! I 
will most certainly fall in the contest, unless the grace of God pro- 
tect me and render me strong. But let Thy kingdom come, my 
God, and I shall triumph, for in Thee who fortified me, I can do 
every thing. Do we then ask for the kingdom of grace by these 
words : " Thy kingdom come ?" We do : by them we beg of God 
to aid us to destroy in our hearts the empire of sin, bad habits, and 
evil inclinations ; we ask Him to assist us to conquer our passions, 
that the charity of Jesus Christ may live in us, and that we may 
perform what He commands, that all in us and about us may breathe 
the good odor of Jesus Christ, that we may follow His voice and 
march under His divine guidance. 

Finally, if we pray that the kingdom of truth may be extended 
over the whole earth, if we implore that the kingdom of grace and 
of charity may prevail in our hearts, it is that we may thereby arrive 
at the third kingdom, that of glory in heaven. We pray that at 
the hour of our death, heaven may be opened to us, and that we 
may have a place in the paradise of God. But the foolish virgins 
spoken of in the Gospel, likewise prayed to be admitted into the 
joy of their Lord, and this happiness was refused them. Why? 
Because they had not done what they should have done to have 
their prayer heard. We alse pray that we may obtain heaven; but 
will it be given to us? God promises it not to idleness and sloth, 
not to those who are content with saying : ''Lord, Lord ;" but to 
those who do violence to themselves, to those who "do the will of 
the heavenly Father;" for He says to us: "If thou wilt enter 
into life, keep the commandments." Hence, our blessed Lord 

* Romans, vii : 14, 15. 



168 SHORT SERMONS. 

was pleased that to this petition there should be immediately added 
another, which is the third: *'Thy will be done on earth as it 
is in heaven." The first words of our Lord when entering into 
the world, were these: "I came not to do my will, but the will of 
my Father, who sent me;" and, my Brethren, "He was obedient 
even to the death of the cross. We also come into this world, 
not to do our own will, but the ever adorable will of God. We 
must, therefore, do every thing which our heavenly Father requires 
of us ; we must obey His law, and patiently carry the burden of the 
cross which He has placed upon our shoulders. But without the 
assistance of the Divine Grace, will we be strong enough to accom- 
plish this ? Alas ! my Brethren, we are weak and inconstant ! 
Therefore it was that our divine Saviour wished us to say to His 
heavenly Father: my God, **let Thy will be done." You pray 
for strength to serve the Lord, all the days of your life, in justice and 
in holiness ; you beg Him to incline your heart toward His holy 
law, and to grant you the grace to walk patiently and firmly in the 
paths in which His fatherly Providence saw proper to place you, 
despite the murmurs and complaints of the flesh, — despite the jeers 
and contempt of the false wisdom of the world. May this divine 
will be done "on earth as it is in heaven." That is to say, you ask 
that all men, during their whole lives, may testify by their sub- 
mission to their Supreme Ruler, the same fidelity, the same zeal, the 
same eagerness as the angels in heaven, who manifest without con- 
straint a full and complete confidence in God. You pray that we 
should all accomplish the holy will of the Lord, our God, as 
perfectly as the angels do in heaven, so that the earth may be to 
Him as pleasing a spectacle as heaven. 

"Thy will be done on earth as it in heaven." You pray for 
grace, strength, courage and patience. Is it from your heart that 
you address this Prayer to the Lord ? If so, you will not be unwise, 
says the Apostle, but you will understand what is the will of God ; 
you will know that if your heavenly Father wishes you to suffer, it 
is to correct you and save you ; and whatsoever affliction heaven 
sends you, you will not even think of complaining, but will bless 
the merciful hand of God, our Father, who is in heaven, and who 
seeks the happiness of His children. 

"Thy kingdom come." Let jis, my Brethren, pro/e that this 



THE lord's tkayek. 169 

desire truly comes from our hearts, and let us cease opposing the 
establishment of the kingdom of God in our souls : let us, there- 
fore, courageously struggle against the passions of our corrupt 
nature, and ever turn a deaf ear to the bad counsels and the 
dangerous suggestions of the world and the devil, the capital 
enemies of Jesus Christ. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in 
heaven." Let us love and seek what God wills, — what God loves. 
But He wills that we accomplish His holy law ; that renouncing 
ourselves, we carry our cross with patience ; that we advance in the 
ways of perfection to which He calls us, and which conduct us to 
heaven. — Amex. 



SERMON XXXIII. 

FOURTH AND FIFTH PETITIONS OF THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

THE LORD'S PR A YER.— (continued.) 



" Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as "we 
forgive them that trespass against us." — The Lord's Prayee. 

In the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer, my Brethren, we 
ask that the holy name of God may he hallowed, that He may be 
known, loved, served and honored throughout the world ; that His 
kingdom may come upon us, that the Church of Jesus Christ, 
which is the guardian of truth, may he propagated among all 
nations ; that grace may reign in our hearts, and that we may all 
be one day received into the kingdom of God in heaven. 

We now come to those petitions of this divine Prayer, which 
have special reference to ourselves. Be very attentive then, while 
I explain for you these beautiful words : " Give us this day our 
daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that 
trespass against us." 

" Lord," says the royal prophet, *' all expect of Thee that Thou 
15 



170 SHORT SERMONS. 

give them food in season."* From our very birth, my Brethren, 
both our soul and our body should say to the Lord: "Give us 
this day our daily bread." But what do we ask by these words ? 
We ask every thing necessary for the maintenance of the life of 
the soul. The body needs material nourishment to support it; 
supernatural food is necessary for the soul, to preserve its spiritual 
life. We ask for our body food, raiment and lodging, in a word, 
every thing necessary for our temporal life. " Give us this day 
our daily bread." We pray also for the bread of the soul. What 
is this bread ? It is sanctifying grace, which, entering into our 
soul, nourishes it, fortifies it, and enables it to perform those good 
works, which merit for it the rewards of heaven. This bread of 
the soul is the word of God, which confirms the soul in the love 
and practice of virtue; for our Saviour has told us, "man liveth 
not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the 
mouth of God."! This bread of the soul is above all, the adorable 
Eucharist, the living bread that came down from heaven, which 
assists us to advance even to the mountain of God, — to heaven ; 
for our loving Lord assures us, that he who will eat this bread 
shall have eternal life. 

Behold, my Brethren, what is contained in these words : " Give us 
this day our daily bread." You beg of God to maintain you in 
His grace, to make you hear attentively and willingly His vivifying 
word, to grant you the happiness of receiving worthily, and into a 
pure and spotless heart, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the 
inestimable pledge of eternal life. You ask from the goodness of 
God for bread to nourish your body, raiment to cover it, and all 
other things necessary to preserve its existence during your short 
stay in this world. 

God said to Adam when he had sinned : " Cursed is the earth in 
thy work : with labor and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days 
of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee ; in the 
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. "J; Was the law of labor 
abolished by the Son of God ? No . Why then does He wish that 
we should seek our daily bread, not in the sweat of our brow, but 
from God ! Because it is not in our power to make the corn grow. 

■ * Psalms, ciii : 27. f St. Matthew, iv : 4. t Genesis, iii : 17, 18, 19. 



171 

Unless God preserves the grain which you plant in the earth, it will 
be choked out by weeds, or destroyed by rain, wind, hail, heat or 
rust. All our efforts are useless, all our hopes are vain, when God 
does not bless our labor. Neither he who sows, nor he who culti- 
vates is anything ; it is God alone who gives the increase ; it is God 
alone who multiplies the grain and makes fruitful the precious seed 
which your hand confided to the earth. Entreat the Lord then, 
to bless the work of your hands ; but at the same time, avoid idle- 
ness, for God is opposed to sloth, and declares that the idle man is 
not worthy of the bread which he eats. 

But why does our Saviour wish us to ask for bread enough only 
for one day ? We ought to ask only for what is strictly necessary, 
because superfluities, beside being useless, are oftentimes dangerous. 
Temporal riches are most frequently accompanied by vice and dis- 
order, by forgetfulness of God, and contempt of the goods of hea- 
ven. *'For they who would become rich, fall into temptation, and 
into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful 
desires, which drown men in destruction and perdition."* We do 
not even ask that God would enable us to live in abundance, and 
enjoy good cheer like that rich man, who, as the Gospel tells us, was 
buried in hell. We ought to be far removed from the desire of 
living in abundance, as by such a life we consume what justly 
belongs to others, — to our indigent brethren who languish in 
misery, and are frequently a prey to the horrors of famine. 

It is not our yearly bread, our weekly bread, but our daily bread 
that we ought to ask of God ; for there is no day on which we 
do not need the aid, the assistance, and the blessings of heaven. 
Every day, food is necessary for our support ; every day, the rich 
as well as the poor ought to pray for it. "Not that the rich want 
the necessaries of life," says St. Chrysostom, "but that their food 
may come to them from the hand of God, and may receive from 
the Almighty a salutary virtue, rendering it useful to the body and 
subjecting the body to the soul." 

You ought to ask only your daily bread, for God wishes that you 
would learn how to hope for the things of to-morrow, with a loving 
confidence in His divine providence. Will you live till to-morrow ? 

* 1 Timothv, vi ; 9. 



172 SHORT SERMONS. 

If you do, then, as well as to-day, God will be your Fatter. Does 
it follow from this that God condemns all care for the future ? 
Certainly not ; but He does condemn that excessive anxiety about 
the future, which causes men to devote all their energies to acquiring 
the goods of this world, without any reference to the world to come. 
He does condemn those people who are ever lamenting the hardness 
of the times, although they want nothing, and who have no com- 
passion for the poor, who stand in need of every thing. 

My Brathren, let us now pass to the fifth petition of the Lord's 
Prayer. What do we ask of God by these words : ** Forgive us 
our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us." We 
ask pardon of the sins which we have had the misfortune to commit 
against our heavenly Father ; we beg the divine Mercy to permit 
the merits of the passion and death of our loving Saviour to enter 
into our souls, that every stain of sin may be by them blotted out. 
But you know that God forgives only the repenting sinner : you 
pray then before all, for the grace of repentance, for a true contrition, 
which will lead you to the feet of the minister of Jesus Christ, and 
help you to intrust to him an humble confession of your sins. Oh ! 
pray in all humility, — you will be heard, and God in His goodness 
will give you the kiss of peace and reconciliation. 

At the same time, pay great attention to these words : "Forgive 
lis, as we forgive." You desire to obtain from the bounty of God 
the grace of repentance, the happiness of having your sins effaced : 
God also ardently wishes it, but on condition that you pardon 
completely, sincerely, cordially and unreservedly, those who have 
injured you. The Holy Ghost thus speaks with indignation of the 
man who will not forgive injuries : ** He that seeketh to revenge 
himself, shall find vengeance from the Lord : and he will surely 
keep his sins in remembrance. Man to man reserveth anger ; and 
doth he seek remedy of God ? He hath no mercy on a man like 
himself ; and doth he entreat for his own sins ? He that is but 
flesh nourisheth anger ; and doth he ask forgiveness of God ? who 
shall obtain pardon for his sins ?"* **The Lord will show mercy to 
him who has been merciful :" but if hatred, bitterness, rancor and 
resentment be fostered in your hearts, the God who pardoned His 

*Ecclesiasticus, xxviii : 1, 3, 4, 5. 



T li E lord's r It a y k k . 173 

very executioners, will refuse yonr pardon. No forgiveness, He 
says, no mercy for him who will not forgive his brother. ye 
whose hearts are filled with desires of revenge, — what an awful 
prayer is that you offer, when you dare say to the Almighty : 
'* Forgive us, as we forgive others ?" You will not forgive others ; 
do you not, therefore, pronounce your own condemnation ? And if 
at the moment of your death, the bitterness of rancor still holds 
possession of your hearts, God will never extend to you His forgive- 
ness. My Brethren, where the love of God and of our neighbor, 
where the spirit of Jesus Christ, which is a spirit of meekness and 
bounty reign, — there also reign peace and happiness. Let us, there- 
fore, drive from our hearts every sentiment of hatred and rancor, — 
let us pardon and remit the few pence our neighbor owes us, let us 
cease to regard the evil he has done us, and think no more about it. 
When the remembrance of it presents itself to our minds, let us 
immediately reject the thought, and from our heart sincerely express 
our forgiveness of it ; then will our heavenly Father forgive us the 
ten thousand talents which we owe Him ; He will entirely efface our 
sins ; He will make them as if they had never been. He will cast 
them behind Him, says the prophet, that He may no more see 
them ; He will receive us into the bosom of His mercy, one day to 
translate us thence to the bosom of His glory in the paradise of His 
eternal light. — Amen. 



SERMON XXXIV. 

SIXTH AND SEVENTH PETITIONS OF THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

THE LORD'S PRAYER.— (continued.) 



" And lead us Bot into temptation ; but deliver us from evil." — St. Matthew, vi. 

Give ns this day om- daily bread : we have asked of our God the 
material bread by which our lives are siijDported ; we have besought 
our heavenly Father ■ to supply our temporal wants, to give us 



174 SHORT SERMONS . 

lodging to shelter, and clothing to cover us. We have asked food 
for our souls, that is to say, the grace of God, to sanctify them ; 
the divine Word, to enlighten them ; the adorable Eucharist, to enter 
them, as a pledge to eternal life. But God will not dwell in our 
hearts if they he stained with sin ; hence we send up to Him sighs 
of repentance and pray for the grace of forgiveness, — a grace which 
will be given us, if we ourselves forgive those who have offended 
us. Behold, my Brethren, the meaning of the two petitions of the 
Lord's Prayer which I explained to you in our last instruction. 
To-day I will conclude the explanation of the divine Prayer which 
our Saviour has taught us, by unfolding the meaning of the last 
two petitions. 

When children have obtained from their father pardon of their 
offences, what remains for them to do, except henceforward to avoid 
these faults, and, by conducting themselves wisely, virtuously and 
irreproachably for the future, to console their indulgent parent whose 
heart they had previously saddened ? It is thus the Lord wishes 
us to act. We have asked of God the forgiveness of our sins, and 
He has granted our request ; He desires us now to pray for the grace 
not to relapse into them ; He wishes that we should say to Him 
often: ''Lead us not into temptation." But, my Brethren, what 
is the meaning of these words, which compose the sixth petition of 
the Lord's Prayer ? Before I answer this question, I wish you to 
understand well the signification of the word temptation. In the 
language of the Holy Scriptures, the word temptation has two very 
different meanings. In the first place, temptation signifies trial. The 
Lord often tempts man in this sense of the word. Yes, my Friends, 
often, and in various ways, does the Lord our God try the virtue 
of his children, to see whether they truly love Him ; whether they 
are devoted to Him, in heart and in soul. Not that God does not 
know the most intimate affections and the most secret dispositions 
of every one of us, for every thing is open before the Lord ; He 
searches the hearts and the reins. He knows the most hidden 
thoughts of our minds, He sees into the deepest recesses of our 
souls : why then does He wish these trials? It is that the hearts 
of His servants and the virtues which embellish their souls may be 
known by other men and revealed to the world. Abraham and 
Sara were old : nevertheless, God promises to His servant that he 



T H E L O K D ■ S P R A Y K K . 175 

shonld have a son, that he should be the father of a numerous pos- 
terity, and He gives to him Isaac, that child of benediction. But see, 
the Sovereign Master commands the holy patriarch to immolate 
this only child, on whose head rested such glorious hopes. Abraham 
is about to obey, when an angel arrests his arm. How terrible a 
trial this must have been ! But, without it, we Avould not have 
known how admirable was the faith of Abraham, and how heroic 
was his obedience. It was for this reason the Lord wished to try 
His servant thus. 

In the second place, to tempt, signifies to induce to evil, to excite 
to sin, to drive man to his destruction. It is peculiar to the devil 
to tempt us in this manner ; he tempts us only to deceive us and 
bring about our ruin. God never makes use of this kind of temp- 
tation ; He wishes it not, — he can not wish it, — He, the holy and 
the just, to whom the sinner and his wickedness are hateful alike. 
If God tempted men thus, He would be the author of sin ; the meje 
thought of which, would be a horrible crime and blasphemy. "Let 
no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted of God : for 
God is not a tempter of evils,"* says the Holy Ghost. 

God is just, and his judgments are righteous, and nevertheless, 
He permits that you should be tempted by the devil, by your own 
concupiscence and your passions. It is because temptation is often- 
times very advantageous to you. You are tempted, my Brethren ; it 
is to make you feel your own weakness, to teach you to distrust 
yourselves, — and the little reliance you should place on your own 
strength. You are tempted ; it is because God desires to force you 
to have recourse to Him, who alone constitutes all our strength ; 
He wishes " that you should lift up your eyes to heaven, whence all 
salvation cometh." You are tempted; God suffers it, to purify 
your hearts ; for the Holy Ghost assures us that, as fire tries and 
purifies gold, so does temptation try and purify the just man more 
and more. God permits you to be tempted, to afford you opjDor- 
tunities for exercising and acquiring virtues, for you can acquire 
them only by practicing them, and you can never practice them so 
well as during the time of temptation. At the same time, we must 
take care not to yield to the temptation ; and yet we will yield if the 



» St. James, i: 13. 



176 SHORT SERMON3. 

gi-ace of God come not to our assistance, for our weakness is exceed- 
ing great ! 

It is this powerful help of grace that our Saviour teaches us to ask 
of God by these words: "Lead us not into temptation." We 
pray to our Father who is in heaven, not to forsake us when temp- 
tation assails us ; we beg Him to take us under His holy and power- 
ful protection, and to arm us with His grace, that we may worthily 
fight the battle of faith, and be crowned with a glorious victory. 
We ask not for the removal of all temptation ; for that would be to 
ask for an impossibility. Servants of Jesus Christ, you ought to be 
satisfied to be treated like your divine Master; and Jesus Christ, 
your Master, was tempted. The enemy of God is eager to perse- 
cute you, it is a good sign ; it is a mark that you belong to God ; it 
is perhaps because you have in your soul the glorious character of 
the elect. "Blessed is the man," says the Holy Ghost "that 
endureth temptation : for when he hath been proved, he shall 
receive the crown of life, which God hath promised to them that 
love him."* Champion of the faith, soldier of Jesus Christ, resist 
temptation ; thus w411 you treasure wp riches for yourself in heaven ; 
thus will you merit the crown of immortality, — a place in the bosom 
of the Lord. 

Not to yield to temptation, is it enough to pray ? No ; Jesus 
Christ tells us that we must also watch. That is to say, my 
Brethren, you must remove from you and carefully avoid every 
thing which leads you to temptation and to sin ; you must take 
special care that the devil does not surprise you. We complain of 
this great enemy of our salvation, and yet wc leave all the doors of 
our heart open for him ; he would cease to be dangerous if he could 
only roar outside. Know that the enemy of our salvation is strong 
only through our rashness, and that our rashness produces our want 
of strength. To expose yourselves willfully to sin, is in itself a sin. 
Do you think, then, that your prayer will be heard, when you do 
not shun the occasion of evil ? You walk along the brink of a 
precipice boldly and unconcernedly, and you say to God : Lord, 
keep me from falling : of your own accord, you enter a furnace, and 
you say: Lord, keep me from burning. But, he who loves the 



* St. .Jarne3, i : 12. 



THK LORD'S PKAYKK. 177 

danger will perish in the danger. Watch and pray that ye enter 
not into temptation, and the grace of God will come to you from 
on high. The just have cried to the Lord, and the Lord has heard 
their supplications, and He has deliA'ered them from their tribu- 
lations. This is what we ask from God in the last petition of the 
Lord's Prayer : — "but deliver us from evil." 

How good our God is ! how wide the extent He has given to His 
Prayer. This last petition, in some measure, embraces all the 
others. In fact, we here pray for deliverance from all evils, 
whether of this world or of the world to come. We beg of God 
to preserve us from a sudden and an unprovided death, from the 
awful punishments which await the impenitent sinner in hell, and 
from the fire which purifies the souls in purgatory. We entreat 
Him to save us from water, from fire, from thunder and lightning, 
from wars and civil commotions. We implore Him to remove 
far from us, sickness, havoc, famine, snares and treason. We ask, 
in a word, that riches, honors, health, and even life may never be to 
us a source of sin, — may never turn to our misfortune and the ruin 
of our immortal souls. 

"Amen:'* that is to say, may it be done as we have prayed ; may 
all our petitions be granted ; we believe that it will be so, we hope 
it. "Amen:" such the concluding word of the Lord's Prayer. 
This conclusion should be pronounced with special piety and sin- 
cerity, as well to supply our want of attention and fervor in the 
other parts of the Prayer, as to make a last effort to touch the heart 
of our heavenly Father. 

Nothing is more holy, more affecting, more sublime, or more 
efficacious than the Lord's Prayer. It is the Prayer of Jesus Christ, 
and in the words which we pronounce, "Our Father," who is the 
Father of our Saviour, recognizes the words of His well-beloved 
Son, of the Son who became a victim of reconciliation for our sins, 
through obedience to His Father. Whenever we devoutly say, 
" Our Father," God will hear us; for the Son of God, who dwells 
in our hearts, will be on our lips ; and can God refuse the Prayer 
of Jesus, His Son ? The Lord's Prayer is a golden key, by which 
we can open all the treasures of heaven. May all then, love it, 
venerate it, and esteem it as the most precious of blessings ; make 
frequent use of it, — for I do not hesitate to assert that they who 



178 SHORT SERMONS. 

will recite this beautiful Prayer in the way God desires us to recite 
it, that is, with heart and soul, will obtain every thing necessary 
for them in this life, and will one day be put in possession of the 
unspeakable treasures of a happy eternity. — Amen. 



SERMON XXXY. 
THE HAIL MARY. 



" Hail, full of grace." — ^Luke, i : 28. 

The ** Our Father" is the most excellent of all prayers, as it came 
from heaven, and was communicated to us by the Father himself 
through the Son ; it is therefore the best prayer we can address to 
our heavenly Father. So, from one end of the world to the other, 
it is constantly ascending from Christian hearts to heaven. What 
graces will not this beautiful prayer obtain for us, and what blessed 
fruits of salvation will it not produce in us, if it is offered to 
Grod by the spotless hands of Mary ? How powerful before God is 
the intercession of Mary ! Therefore doubtless it is, that every- 
where the Lord's Prayer is always immediately followed by the 
Hail Mary. You love this salutary prayer, and I doubt not you 
will repeat it with still greater fervor, when I shall have told you 
the meaning of the beautiful words of which it is composed. 

The Hail Mary is so called from the first words of which it is 
composed, and which were addressed by the angel Gabriel to the^ 
blessed Virgin Mary when he announced to her that she would 
become the Mother of God. It is divided into three parts. The 
first was made by the angel; it consists in these words: "Hail 
Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." The second, are the 
words of St. Elizabeth, who said to Mary: ''Blessed art thou 
among women; and blessed is the fruit of thy womb."* The third 

* Luke, i : 42. 



THE HAIL MARY. 179 

part is a prayer added by the Church, beginning with the words : 
"Holy Mary, Mother of God," by which words the Church assem- 
bled in council at Ephesus, crushed the heresy which dared to deny 
to Mary the glorious title of Mother of God. Is not this prayer 
therefore truly excellent, and have not the words which compose it 
been first uttered by holy lips? Yes, my Brethren; and there is no 
other by which we can so well praise, bless and invoke the holy 
Virgin. How in fact can we praise the blessed Virgin in a manner 
more agreeable to her, than by addressing her in the words which 
she first heard from the mouth of an angel, when he came to an- 
nounce to her the wonders which the Most High was about to work 
in her, and which exalted her to the highest degree of glory and 
grandeur? Can we venerate the holy Mother of God more, than 
by recalling to memory, and fixing in our hearts the adorable 
mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, and repeating these 
words of St. Elizabeth : " Blessed is the fruit of thy womb ;'* 
that is to say, blessed be that mystery so glorious to thee, holy 
Virgin ! blessed be that heavenly fruit of life, Jesus, our Redeemer, 
Avhom thy chaste womb has given us : thanks be to thee, O 
Mary ! and blessed be thou forever, for thou hast been made the 
instrument of giving to the world the Divine Liberator, who came 
to crush the serpent's head ; to break the chains of our shameful 
bondage, and blot out the sentence of death which had been written 
against us. Yes, holy Virgin, be thou forever blessed, — thou and 
Jesus, the fruit of thy womb ! 

My Brethren, these words of thanksgiving open Mary's heart to 
us, and naturally lead us to address to her a petition which can not 
fail to please her. It is contained in these words : "Holy Mary, 
Mother of God, pray for us now, and at the hour of our death." 
Let us pray with all confidence, for we are the brethren of Jesus 
Christ ; and Mary, our mother, will hear us. Let us now see, my 
Brethren, what are the sacred truths contained in the words of 
which the Hail Mary is composed. 

The archangel Gabriel salutes Mary by the title "full of grace." 
What do these beautiful words signify ? They signify that Mary 
alone received from God more graces than all other creatures to- 
gether; they teach us that God, having chosen Mary among all 
the daughters of Sion, to be the Mother of His well-beloved Son, 



180 SHORT SERMONS. 

enriched her with His gifts, heaped upon her His favors, and poured 
upon her all the treasures of His bounty. "Many daughters have 
gathered together riches; thou hast surpassed them, all!"* O 
Mother of God ! they participated in the graces of the Lord ; hut 
thou, Mary, art filled with them, "and the Lord is with thee." 

It is true, we also are temples wherein the Lord dwelleth ; and, 
if we be in the state of grace, it can be said of us : the Lord is 
with us. But He was with Mary in a quite different manner. It 
was in her He was pleased to assume human flesh, to be made man, 
and to remain for the space of nine months. He is in the heart of 
Mary ; He fills her entire understanding, possesses all her will, is 
the principle of all her thoughts, of all her actions, of all the senti- 
ments of her heart and soul ; and He has never permitted that the 
slightest stain should sully its purity and beauty. Yes, Mary, 
"the Lord is with thee." The messenger of God adds: "Blessed 
art thou among women," Of all the women that appeared on 
earth since the beginning of the world, — of all the women who 
shall dwell on earth till the end of time, Mary is the most worthy, 
the most holy, the most exalted in grace and glory before God. 
She alone, among all the children of Adam, was conceived without 
sin. Never has the slightest imperfection been found in her beauti- 
ful soul, this living temple of God, wherein even His eye could not 
discover the least stain. The heart of Mary was full of faith, of 
hope, of charity, of humility, of meekness, of patience, of purity, 
in a word the sanctuary of every virtue ; and from the day of her 
entrance into the world till the hour of her death, Mary ceased not 
one single instant to advance from virtue to virtue, and to grow in 
sanctity and perfection. In fine, most holy Virgin, not only art 
thou of all the daughters of Sion the most excellent, the most 
chaste, the most faithful, the most holy; but thou art also the 
Mother of the world's Eedeemer, — the Mother of God. With good 
reason then did the angel say to thee: "Blessed art thou among 
women !" 

■St. Elizabeth also said to Mary: "Blessed art thou among 
women ;" and immediately added ; "and blessed is the fruit of thy 
womb." For the Holy Ghost had revealed to the venerable spouse 

* Proverbs, xxxi : 29. 



THE HAIL MARY. 181 

of Zachary, that the "heavens had dropped down the divine dew, 
and the clouds had rained down the Just One, and that the Desired 
of nations'' was before lier, in the virginal womb of Mary. Jesus, 
the Saviour of the world ; Jesus, the angel of peace land the true 
Solomon ; Jesus is the fruit of thy womb, Mary : beyond doubt, 
thou art all-powerful with Him, and He hastens to hear the prayers 
which thou present to Him in heaven. Therefoie it is that the 
Church of Thy divine Son requires that we should say every day, 
and with boundless confidence : " Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray 
for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. 

Holy Mary, our Lady, our Queen, most beloved daughter of Sion, 
who wast overshadowed by the Holy Ghost, who hast conceived in 
thy womb the Son of the Eternal, who hast given Him the flesh 
which He was to sacrifice and the blood He was to shed for our sal- 
vation ; Mother of God, employ in our behalf, the merciful power 
wherewith the Lord has invested thee ; pray for us, poor sinners, 
thou who lovest so much the title of refuge and help of sinners ; thou 
who art the star that must lead us to the gates of eternal happiness. 
Consider our misery, and thy maternal heart will be moved; pray 
for us to thy divine Son, thy prayer will be granted, and our sal- 
vation will be the fruit of thy humble, but all-powerful intercession. 
Pray for us now, that is to say, always, every instant of our lives, 
for we every instant need thy assistance, O Mother of God ! My 
Brethren, we have constantly new sins to lament, new weaknesses 
to fear, new dangers to avoid, new duties to fulfill, and consequently, 
new graces to obtain through the intercession of that heavenly 
Mother of mercy. May Mary then pray for us, poor sinners, now, 
always, and above all, ''at the hour of our death," that we be not 
troubled by the fear of death and by the temptations of the devil, who, 
at that decisive moment redoubles his efforts, employs all his cunning, 
and makes use of all his malice to effect our perdition. May Mary 
then pray for us, that we may support all our afflictions and suffer- 
ings, with meritorious and Christian patience, that we may worthily 
receive the last sacraments, the fountains of grace, of forgiveness, 
and the pledges of eternal salvation ; that we may preserve the 
spirit of penance and contrition, of confidence in God, and resig- 
nation to the will of Heaven ; that, in fine, persevering in grace, 
and confirmed in divine love, we may deserve to be received into 



182 3H0RT SEBMONS. 

the bosom of Abraham forever. Maiy is most pleasing to the 
heart of God the Father, of God the Son, and of God the Holy 
Ghost ! Mary is most powerful ! She is the Mother of God. She 
desires our happiness, — she wishes to conduct us to God. Invoke 
then this holy Virgin; often address to her that beautiful angelic 
salutation which I have explained ; recite it in your toils and afflic- 
tions, and you will be consoled ; in your temptations, and you will 
be strengthened; say it Christians, every day, especially in the 
morning and evening ; but you, above all, young people, who are 
so often and so violently tried by temptation, pray to Mary, and 
Mary will pray for you, and the assistance of God will be given 
you ; you will then do what God commands, and the day will come 
when you will be invited to glorify Him in heaven, in the society 
of angels, in company with the saints and with Mary, the Mother 
of Jesus, our Saviour, forever.— Amen. 



SEEM ON XXXVI. 
DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN 



"Henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." — St. Luke, i : 48. 

This prophecy of the blessed Virgin has been accomplished. 
The Church and all her true children, for the last eighteen hundred 
years, have never ceased to love, honor, venerate and invoke Mary ; 
and every day she is called blessed, and truly blessed among 
women. I thank God, my Brethren, that I have the happiness also 
to see devotion to Mary established among you ; that all of you 
pray to her with piety, fervor and confidence. After the adorable 
name of Jesus, that which mothers should be most eager to teach 
their children, is the sacred name of Mary. You have good reason, 
my Brethren, to honor her whom God has elevated to the super- 
eminent dignity of Mother of the Saviour, to invoke her who is the 
Queen of saints, and whom the Lord has invested with unspeakable 



DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VI KG IN. 1S3 

power. But, says St. Paul, be your worship and homage pure and 
rational ; they must be so to please Mary and obtain for you the 
graces and blessings of God. Hear me then, with attention, that 
you may learn what the worship is, which you ought to pay to the 
most holy Mother of God. 

In heaven, the throne of Mary is exalted far above that of the 
angels and saints, but below the throne of the Eternal, for she is 
not God : great honor and veneration are therefore due to the Queen 
of heaven ; but we must be very careful not to render to her the 
worship which belongs only to God, — the worship which is due to 
the Supreme Being alone, — the worship of divine adoration. No 
doubt, the blessed Virgin should be honored and revered more than 
all the angels and saints, since she is their Queen ; but we must not 
forget what faith teaches us ; that there is, and there can be but one 
divine Nature, and that belongs to God alone. We acknowledge 
and adore this divine Nature, one and indivisible, in the three divine 
persons of the Most Holy Trinity ; but we acknowledge and adore 
it only in these three adorable persons, who constitute but one God. 
We have not forgotten the law of the Lord, for we know that His 
first precept is this : "One God alone shalt thou adore, and Him 
alone shalt thou love with thy whole heart;" so we carefully avoid 
transferring to Mary the adoration which belongs to God, for Mary 
herself would exclaim against us : this most holy Virgin, who 
delighted so much to declare that she was but the humble hand- 
maid of the Lord, would reject with horror such homage. "Behold 
the handmaid of the Lord," she says to the angel, "be it done to 
me according to thy word : " and again, to her cousin St. Elizabeth : 
" the Lord hath regarded the humility of his handmaid." 

Mary is not God ; she can not, therefore, originate grace. God 
alone is the author of grace ; He alone gives and grants it to man. 
So we do not approach Mary to ask this precious gift of grace as if 
she created it, or by her own power conferred it ; no, we only pray to 
Mary to ask it for us. It is for this reason that when we address 
God in prayer, we say : "Heavenly Father, true God, divine Son, 
Redeemer of the world. Holy Ghost, who art God, have mercy upon 
us, pity us," because God alone can bestow grace. But as soon as 
we turn to ^lary, our prayer changes, and we say with the Church : 
"Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us ; Holy Mary, Mother of 



184 SHORT SERMONS. 

God, pray for us now, and at the hour of our death." We pray 
thus, and we do so with all confidence, because, although Mary is 
not the author of grace, God will never refuse to the prayer of His 
heavenly daughter, of His well-beloved Mother, of His cherished 
Spouse, this grace so precious in itself and so necessary for us. 
We do not in the worship we render to Mary, transfer to her 
the adoration which belongs only to God ; but we heartily delight 
to honor Mary, to celebrate her glory, her power and her happiness. 
We imitate the messenger of heaven, and like the angel we say to 
Mary: "Hail Maiy, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed 
art thou among women." We imitate the holy spouse of Zachary, 
the mother of St. John the Baptist, and with her we say : "Blessed 
art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." 
With the angel and with Elizabeth, we honor and glorify God him- 
self in the person of Mary ; we honor and glorify God the Father, 
before whom Mary had found favor; God the Son, whom this 
holy Virgin had given to the world ; God the Holy Ghost, whose 
power had wrought in her such great miracles. We honor and 
glorify Mary, and we fulfill the prophetic words which God put into 
her mouth, when she said : "Behold, all generations shall call me 
blessed, for He that is mighty hath done great things to me : and 
holy is His name." We honor and invoke Mary, because such is 
the will of God, since He has rendered her worthy of all honor, and 
has elevated her to a supereminent dignity, the source to her of 
wonderful power. We honor and invoke Mary, because we wish to 
walk in the foot steps of the saints, and because the saints never 
ceased and shall never cease to honor and glorify the holy Mother 
of God. 

Yes, my Brethren, let us pray to Mary with an ardent devotion 
and with great confidence. But do not forget that Mary wishes, 
above all things, that you should honor and invoke Jesus and His 
divine Father, from whom she received every thing. Do not forget 
that she wishes to bring you to Jesus, and that it is from the 
goodness and mercy of Jesus that you must expect your salvation. 
Jesus, alone, is the way, the truth, and the life ; and "there is no 
other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved,"* 

* Acts, iv : 12. 



DfiVOTIOU TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 185 

than the name of Jesus. Mary is powerful, and her prayer has a 
wonderful efficacy ; but will she pray for you, if you forget Jesus, 
"in whom are the words of eternal life?" No, she will not hear 
your desires and supplications, — she will not present them to her 
divine Son, if you do not place all your confidence in Him, if you 
forget Him. Implore then Mary to intercede for you, hut so that you 
expect from Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, the graces 
and the favors which you solicit; and Mary will love you, will pro- 
tect you, and will intercede in your behalf with her divine Son, 
who died for you, who is your only mediator with the heavenly 
Father. This is the way in which you must pray to Mary, to honor 
her and to honor God. 

We praise and extol Mary ; she is most worthy of our praise, 
and God desires that we should venerate His blessed Mother, whom 
He has made the master-piece of creation. "Most happy Virgin," 
says St. Ambrose, "Mary, ever Virgin, is the greatest wonder of 
God. Who has ever been more holy than Mary ? She surpasses in 
sanctity the prophets, the apostles and the martyrs, the angels, the 
thrones, the principalities, the seraphim and the cherubim ; among 
all creatures, visible and invisible, there is not one equal to Mary in 
grandeur and sanctity ; not one who like her was, at the same time, 
the servant and the Mother of God, a Mother and a Virgin." How 
pleasing, therefore, must it be to God to honor and glorify Mary ! 
But Mary will not consider herself glorified by your praise, your 
canticles and your prayers, if you do not, at the same time, glorify 
God by your actions ; if you do not imitate her virtues. How 
indeed could such unworthy homage be pleasing to her, who had so 
much at heart the glory of God, and so often on her lips the beauti- 
ful words :' " my soul ! glorify the Lord." Alas ! my Brethren, 
we praise her and invoke her to little effect, while we care so little 
to imitate her example ! What indeed can they expect from their 
prayers, and what honor do they render to Mary and to God, who, 
this moment recite the five decades of their Eosary, and immediately 
after utter a decade of blasphemies and curses ? What honor do they 
render to God and to Mary, who, in the Litany, give to the Mother 
of God the most glorious titles, and the next instant discharge a 
litany of oaths and calumnies against their neighbor ? What merit 
can vou claim, and what can be the efficacy of your prayers, you 
16 



186 SHOKT SEKMONS. 

fathers and mothers, who, while you praise the blessed "Virgin and 
extol her love for her divine Son, her meek humility, her gentleness 
and her inviolable fidelity to virtue, yet take no care of your children, 
do not trouble youi'selves about their education, have no peace or 
concord among yourselves, no love, no fidelity for one another ? 
"What must we think of or expect from your devotion to Mary, ye 
young men and young women, who, while you glorify the angelic 
purity and the heavenly beauty of her soul, permit your own minds 
and hearts, your mouth and your ears to be filled with thoughts, 
desires, words and actions which purity condemns ? No, it is not 
thus that Mary wishes to be honored ! If you desire that your 
prayers should be agreeable to her, and that she should love and 
protect you, resolve at once to imitate her example and to walk in 
her footsteps. Imitate her meekness, her docility, her humility, her 
resignation to the divine will under affliction, her love of God, and 
charity for her neighbor. Endeavor like her to be modest, strive like 
her to be pure, then you will honor her with your tongue and with 
your heart ; God will be glorified by the praise, respect and vener- 
ation which you pay to his holy Mother ; Mary will be united to 
you ; she will receive your prayers, — she will present them to God, 
and these prayers will return from heaven to you, but loaded with 
graces and blessings to fortify you in the love and practice of virtue, 
to console you in your sorrows and sufferings, to render you strong 
and courageous in the contest you have to Avage against the enemies 
of your salvation, and help you to advance even to the mountain of 
the Lord. This is the way in which you must act, if you would 
have Mary become for you the ark of the covenant, the gate of 
heaven. — Amen. 



IMITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 187 

SERMOX XXXVII. 

IMITATION OP THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 



"Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of 
heaven : but he that doeth the will of my Father, who is in heaven, he shall 
enter into the kingdom of heaven." — St. Matthew, vii : 21. 

My Brethren, we all desire to honor the blessed Virgin, and merit 
her powerful intercession with God. Mary is, indeed, worthy of all 
glory and honor, and her prayers will obtain for us innumerable and 
most salutary graces, for her divine Son can refuse her nothing. 
The blessed Virgin loves us, and the most ardent desire of her 
heart is to make us happy, to render us partakers of the happiness 
which she now possesses in the bosom of Abraham. Nevertheless, 
I imagine that I hear her addressing us, in the words of her divine 
Son : Not every one that saith, Mary, Mary, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven : but he that, like me, doeth the will of my 
Father, who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdon of heaven. 
Yes, my Brethren, we render ourselves worthy of the protection of 
Mary, and we will share in her glory and happiness, if we imitate 
this perfect model of every virtue ; if, like her, we do what God 
commands, if we suffer as He wishes us to suffer, if we love what 
He loves, if, in a word, like Mary, we truly love God. 

If you love God, you will do what he commands. Our divine 
Lord has said : he who loves me, keeps my commandments and 
hears my words ; and he who loves me not, will not reduce my 
words to practice. Do you wish, therefore, to know if the love of 
God reign in your hearts ? Show yourselves constantly obedient to 
the commands of the Lord, be ever determined to do his holy will 
in all things, advance steadfastly in the way of His commandments, 
and let nothing in heaven, on earth, or in hell, be able to separate 
you from your God. 

It was thus that Mary loved the Lord, and that she was ever 



188 S H O K T S E R M O N S . 

faithful to His adorable will, obedient to His holy law, under all 
circumstances, and during her whole life. Sin never entered into 
her pure soul. The conception of Mary was immaculate, and all 
the gifts of grace were given in abundance to the humble Virgin 
whom God destined to be the Mother of the Saviour of the world. 
This white robe of innocence, with which heaven had invested her, 
Mary ever preserved pure and spotless. During the whole course 
of her life, as the holy fathers testify, this heavenly Virgin never 
committed the slightest sin : she constantly remained all fair and 
beautiful, and the celestial beauty of her soul was never soiled. 
Her whole happiness was to do, in all things, what God com- 
manded. As a perfect Israelite, she was subject to all the ordi- 
nances of the Mosaic law. She became the Mother of God, but did 
not thereby cease to be a Virgin ; this sublime prerogative dispensed 
her from the precept of purification ; nevertheless, she submitted to 
it to avoid even the shadow of disobedience in what the Lord pre- 
scribed. She recognized God's will in that of temporal superiors ; 
and to obey it, at the very time when she was about to give birth to 
Jesus, she undertook a long and painful journey to Bethlehem, there 
to have her name enrolled as the Roman emperor had commanded. 
Yes, Mary loved the law of God ; she meditated upon it unceasingly, 
she carried it written in her heart, upon her forehead, and in her 
hands ; she trembled at the mere idea of violating it, at the bare 
thought of the slightest fault. "The law of God was the torch that 
enlightened her steps, the light that guided her in all her ways.** 
Is it thus, my Brethren, that we act ? Is it thus, that we fulfill 
what God wishes and ordains ? Do we thus love and cherish the 
holy law of the Lord ? From our earliest years, we have learned to 
repeat: "0 my God ! I love thee with my whole heart and soul 
and above all things ;" but, alas ! these beautiful words are on our 
lips, while the sentiments they express are far from our hearts, for 
we do not perform what God commands. Is our life, indeed, any- 
thing else but a continual series of transgressions and violations of 
the law of God ? No, we do not imitate the Blessed Virgin, 
trampling under foot as we do, the most sacred precepts of the 
Lord. Go through the Decalogue, which God himself has written; 
call to mind the precepts which He has empowered His Church to 
impose upon you, and see how many things there are that God for- 



IMITATION <Jl THE BLESSED V I It G I N . 189 

bids, and which, nevertheless, you commit ; how many things 
which He prescribes, and yet you neglect. How many are the 
wicked thoughts, evil words, and sinful actions which stain your 
souls ! Does the love of God, then, reside in you? Confess it, my 
dear Brethren, you do not imitate the blessed Virgin ; 3^ou do not 
love God as she loved Him. He who loves God desires what God 
desires, and submits himself to the will of his heavenly Father. If 
God ordains him to walk along the path of sorrows, he bows his 
head and walks along it. He may indeed say with his divine 
Master: ** My father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass away 
from me;" but he will immediately add; "yet not my will but 
thine be done," and he w^ill accept the chalice, no matter how bitter 
it be. 

It was thus that the most perfect agreement never ceased to reign 
between the will of Mary and the will of God. She was ever 
submissive and resigned to every thing that heaven required of her, 
and, with calmness and patience, she passed through the most try- 
ing scenes that ever affected the heart of a spouse and a Mother. 
Everywhere, and always, she recognized the hand of God, and 
adored it. Mary stood at the foot of the cross on which her divine 
Son expired ; it was there that her heart was pierced by the sword 
of sorrow which the holy old man Simeon had foretold. Alas ! 
how terribly her soul must have suffered ! and yet not a murmur, 
not a complaint was found on her lips : for she knew that the hand 
which held the sword was the hand of God. And from the bottom 
of her heart, she said with her divine Son: *'My Father, let thy 
will and not mine be done." No, never did any one suffer as Mary 
suffered, no grief was like unto her grief, no sorrows were like unto 
hers, and yet never was mere creature so submissive and resigned ; 
well does she deserve to be called the "Mother of Sorrows," the 
** Queen of Martyrs." May we, my dear Brethren, imitate her 
example ! 

We also have much to suffer in this world, in this sad valley of 
tears. Often does the Lord chastise us, because we deserve punish- 
ment and He loves us. God sends us bitter trials, because He 
wishes that we should walk in the road of affliction, to arrive at 
eternal glory, and because trials work patience, and patience, the 
merit which opens heaven. If we love God, let us be careful not t« 



1 90 S II O Ji r SERMONS. 

murmur and complain. If we love God, we will find great conso- 
lation in the lioly and salutary belief, that, if we suffer, it is because 
such is the will of God, who loves us with a most tender love ; and 
our hearts will at once say : my God, may your holy will be 
done ! I accept and I bless these strokes of thy justice, my 
God ! I richly merit them, and I am too happy thus to have it in 
my power to expiate my sins, which rendered me so guilty in thy 
sight. My Brethren, if we murmur when God afflicts us, if we 
revolt against the orders of Providence, we do not imitate the ever 
blessed Virgin Mary, we do not love God. 

In fine, the third mark of the true love of God, is to love what 
God loves, and to abhor what he detests. There are persons in the 
world who occupy in our regard the place of God ; these are our 
parents and superiors ; God loves them, we also must love them. 
The poor are the members and suffering brethren of Jesus Christ : 
He loves them, we also must love them. We have enemies, that 
injure and persecute us : God loves them, as instruments which He 
uses to punish and chastise us for our sins ; we also must love them. 
All men are brethren, all are children of one heavenly Father, 
created to His image : He loves them all, we must also love all. 
But God detests sin, abhors those who violate His holy law, who 
persecute His disciples, who sow in his vineyard perverse doctrines, 
who, by their impious designs and bad example, bring about the 
corruption of morals, and labor for the destruction of immortal 
souls. Such as these we ought to shun ; we must avoid them as 
workers of iniquity, yet without ceasing to love them as brothers. 
This was the way that Mary always acted : she never voluntarily 
entered the company of the wicked; and, like the royal prophet, 
she could well say to the Lord : "I have hated the unjust, and have 
loved Thy law : I have hated those that work iniquity in Thy sight ; 
the proud and ambitious and the corrupt in heart have not sat at 
my table, and I held in abomination those who hated Thee.'* Mary 
fled from the company of the wicked, but she lamented their per- 
versity, for the love of her neighbor was deeply rooted in her heart, 
and she never ceased to love all mankind as her brethren. Oh ! how 
her heart exulted with exceeding joy when she found that she was 
to give birth to the Saviour, who was to be for us the way which 
leads to the happiness of heaven. How happy was this holy Virgin, 



IMITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 191 

every time that her divine Son, passing through this world doing 
good, blotted out the sins of men, and spread everywhere along 
His path graces, blessings, health and life ! Mary loved us, and it 
was because she loved us so much, that she desired to suffer so 
much for us ; that she wished to assist at the agony of her divine 
Son, and to be sprinkled with the adorable blood that was to effect 
our redemption. Yes, God loved us so much that He gave His 
Son to redeem us, says the Apostle ; and I fearlessly add, with a 
holy father : Mary loved us so much, that had the Jews failed to do 
so, she herself would have sacrificed her divine Son, whose death 
was to be our life. 

Is it thus that we love those whom God loves, and avoid those 
whom He detests ? Do we love the poor ? Do their miseries touch 
our hearts, and do we relieve them according to our means ? Do 
we love our parents and superiors, and show ourselves obedient to 
them ? Do we love our enemies ? Do we forgive them ? Is there 
no hatred, no malice in our hearts ? Do we pray for those who 
hate and persecute us ? 

Do we avoid the society of the wicked ? Alas ! too often do you 
seek the company of the vicious, and select as your friends those 
who delight in offending the Lord, who despise His holy religion, 
corrupt the hearts of the young and innocent, and ruin immortal 
souls. You love then what God detests, and you do not imitate 
the blessed Virgin. Nevertheless, my Brethren, we must imitate 
her, if we desire to be partakers of her happiness ; we must follow 
her in the path of virtue to which she invites us ; this is the only 
condition on which she will grant us the support of her powerful 
intercession. She loved what God loved, she desired what God 
desired, she did what He commanded : let us do the same, my dear 
Brethren, and, when we shall ask ourselves if we love God, our 
works will immediately answer. Yes, you love your God, and He 
loves you : you follow the footsteps of Mary, and she will be with 
you : she will pray for you, — she will protect you, now and at the 
hour of your death. At this awful and decisive moment, Mary 
will, so to speak, hover around your death-bed ; she will strengthen 
you, will encourage you, will receive your soul, and will transport 
it with joy into the mansions of everlasting rest. — Amen. 



PAET III. 

* w 

SERMON XXXVIII 

THE LOVE OF GOD. 



*' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole 
soul, and with thy whole mind." — St. Matthew, xxii : 37, 

My Brethren, we know what faith is, and what it teaches lis ; 
what hope is, and the blessings it promises us : I am now about to 
tell you what charity is, and the commandments which it helps us to 
observe. Charity is "the end and the perfection of the law," says 
the Holy Ghost : he who has not charity is nothing in the sight of 
God. "It is charity that distinguishes the children of God from 
the children of the devil," says St. Augustine. St. Francis of Sales 
adds: "Virtue consists in the Love of God; perfection consists in 
the Love of God ; in a word, in love, every thing consists. Sal- 
vation is shown to faith, prepared for hope, but given only to 
charity." What then is charity ? " Charity is a supernatural 
virtue, by which we love God above all things, because He is infi- 
nitely worthy of love, and our neighbor as ourselves for the Love of 
God." It has for its object God and our neighbor; it is the Love 
of God and the love of our neighbor. I will tell you to-day why 
we ought to love God, and how we ought to love Him. 

God must certainly be little known, since He is so little loved ! 
In truth, can we know the Sovereign Good, the only true good, — 
the source of all good, — and not love Him ? " Yes," says St. Ber- 
nard, "the great reason for loving God, is God himself." If we 
knew the Lord our God, in His infinite perfections, we would say 
with St. Michael, the archangel : " Who is like unto God," and who 



194 SHORT SEK MO NS . 

deserves to be loved as the Lord does ? God is tlie Supreme Being ; 
the Being by excellence ; He possesses in an infinite degree every 
possible perfection ; He is infinitely above all that created intelli- 
gence can conceive of good, or beautiful, or great, or holy. You 
love creatures ; but it is from God that they have received every 
thing in them that makes you love them, and they all say to you : 
it is God who made us what we are. You love creatures ; but what 
is the grandeur, the beauty, the power of created beings, but the 
shadowy reflex of the grandeur, the beauty, and the power of God? 
Beside, my Brethren, in creatures, good and amiable qualities are 
oftentimes accompanied by su many defects, that they can please only 
when viewed at a distance : but in God all is perfection, without 
admixture of defect, and every thing ought to impel us to love Him. 
God is the union of all perfections, — He is the Sovereign Good ; 
we ought therefore to love Him, because He is infinitely amiable in 
himself, and we ought also to love Him, because His goodness is 
an immense treasure, from which we can draw an abundance of 
graces and blessings. 

It was God who called you out of nothing ; His hand fashioned 
your body, and His breath gave birth to your soul, to that soul, the 
master-piece of earthly creatures, which, created to the likeness of 
God, elevates you to the rank of rational beings, and places you 
above all things visible. It is God who has given you life, and 
who preserves it for you : His infinite goodness constantly watches 
over you and protects you. He wishes that all creatures should 
serve your use, and heaps upon you the sweetness of His blessings 
and His favors. All that we are, all that we possess, our being, our 
motion, and our life, we have received from God. But what are all 
these things in comparison to what God has condescended still more 
to do for us ? To redeem us, my Brethren, and thereby win our 
love, he gave himself entirely to us, became man, was made flesh, 
and died ! Is not your heart satisfied with this proof of His love ? 
Most assuredly it is. Well ! the heart of our God discovered that 
this was not sufficient for Him, and He chose the most cruel death, 
— the death of the cross ! My God, Thou hast loved us with an 
excessive love, — even to die for us ! Can it be possible that Thou 
wilt add still more to what Thou hast already done ? unspeak- 
able love ! Our loving Kedeemer, not content with immolating 



T H E L O V E O F G O D . 195 

himself once on Calvary, wishes that this adorable sacrifice should 
be renewed every day, and a thousand times a day ! He was not 
content to live and die for us, but He desired to remain forever with 
those whom He loves, and even to the very end of time. He will be 
present in the sacrament of love, — in the holy Eucharist. My 
Brethren, let liS go to the foot of the cross on Calvary, let us go to 
the foot of our altars, and there prostrating ourselves before our 
divine Lord, say, ought we not to love our God ? God died for us, 
and, that He might dwell among us. He seems almost to annihilate 
himself: Oh ! if we love Him not, we are the most ungrateful of 
wretches ! I can easily understand the anathema which the Apostle 
St. Paul pronounces against those who love not the Lord Jesus. 
And may I not also say with him : Anathema to those who refuse 
to God a love which He purchased at so dear a rate ! Anathema 
to those who are insensible to the effusion of the blood of a God ! 
Heaven grant, my Brethren, that this anathema fall not on you ! 
Love then the Lord, consecrate to Him the affections of your heart, 
and let your love be such as He desires. 

St. Francis of Sales points out, in a iew words, the marks of 
true love of God. " This love must prevail over every thing that 
we love, and rule over all our passions. What is it that God 
demands of us ? It is that in every thing we love, the love of 
God should be the most cordial, reigning over all our heart ; the 
most affectionate, occupying our whole soul ; the most general, 
engaging all our powers ; the most elevated, filling our whole mind ; 
the most steadfast, exercising all our strength and all our energies." 
" Thou shalt love then the Lord, thy God, with thy whole heart, with 
thy whole soul, with thy whole mind and with all thy strength." 
To love God then, the rule we must follow is, to love Him above 
all things. God must occupy the first place in your heart and in 
your love, above all things, above the angels in heaven and the 
saints in paradise ; above your parents, your children, your friends, 
your benefactors ; above all the goods and pleasures of this world ; 
above your happiness, your health, and even your life. Thus we 
must never suffer any affection in our heart which we can not offer 
to God, nor should we ever love any thing but in relation to Him. 
He is our sovereign Good, our last end : and we would be giving 
way to sad disorder, did wc love any thing beside God, more than 



196 SHORT SERMONS. 

God, or as much as God. To love God above all things, is a sacred 
duty : if such is not our charity, if such is not our love, there is 
for us no salvation, *'we are not worthy of God." 

If you truly love God, united with that divine love, there will be 
found in your hearts the sincere and firm resolution of sacrificing all 
your goods, all your fortune, of suffering every fain and every 
persecution, of giving up your body to torments, of immolating 
your life, of crushing every affection and every love, rather than do 
any thing displeasing to God. He who acts thus loves God as He 
ought to be loved, above all things. 

If you truly love the Lord, you ought to love to speak of Him, 
to hear His word ; you must love to think of Him, and raise your 
hearts to Him as often as possible; for "where your treasure is, 
there also will be your heart," — there will be your thoughts. If 
you truly love God, you will study to render yourself every day 
more pleasing to Him by a pious, wise and prudent life, by faith- 
fully observing His commandments, by perseverance and exactness 
in the performance of all the duties of your state. *'Let him who 
is just become still more just ; be ye perfect as my heavenly Father 
is perfect," says our divine Saviour. 

If you love God, you will put your trust in Him, you will sub- 
mit without a murmur to the arrangements of His divine provi- 
dence, to the ways of His adorable wisdom : like St. Francis of 
Sales, you will cast your care on the goodness of God, and lean upon 
Him, with as much tranquillity as an infant upon the bosom of its 
mother ; and you will say : God has promised to assist us in our 
tribulations, what therefore do we fear ? Nothing happens except 
with God's permission, and we know that He loves us ; let us 
therefore have courage and patience. 

Is it thus, my Brethren, that we love the Lord our God ? Per- 
haps human respect has prevailed over the Love of God in our 
timid and pusillanimous hearts ; perhaps slothfulnesss, attachment 
to the things of this life, or self-love have urged us to transgress the 
holy law of God, to deny to the Lord the love which is due Him. 
If such be the case, let us not continue in this unhappy state, ** for 
he who loveth not abideth in death." Let us quit this death, let us 
shake off this slothfulness, let us drive away this cold indifference, 
let us lament our faults, let us do penance, and love. Yes ! let us 



LOVK OF OUR NEIGHBOR. 197 

love a God so great, so good, and so amiable, who has done so much 
for us, and who will do still more ; and let us pray that the flames 
of divine love may never more be extinguished in our hearts, but 
that they may burn there and consume in us every worldly attach- 
ment and every inordinate affection; that thus our lives may flow 
along in the practice of every virtue, and merit for us the happiness 
of be'ing admitted to love God for ever in heaven. — Amen. 



SERMON XXXIX. 

LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOR. 



" Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." — St. Matthew, xxii : 39. 

We must love God, the Supreme Being, the only Being truly 
worthy of love, because He possesses in himself every perfection. 
We ought to love Him, because He is for us the source of every 
good. But, my Brethren, it is not enough to love God, we must 
also Love our Neighbor. The Gospel joins together the Love of God 
and the Love of the Neighbor; it requires that these two loves 
should be inseparable, and it even declares that it is impossible for 
us truly to love God, whom we see not, unless we also Love our 
Neighbor, whom we see. You understand then, why I mean to 
speak to you to-day of this Love of our Neighbor, which God so 
much desires to see established in our hearts, and I trust you will 
listen to -me with attention. 

Who is our Neighbor? The catechism furnishes us with an 
answer: Our Neighbors are all men in .general, because, like us, 
they have been created to the image of God and redeemed by the 
precious blood of Jesus Christ. By the word Neighbor, then, we 
must not understand only our relations, our friends, our benefac- 
tors, the inhabitants of the same city, of the same kingdom, or 
those who profess the same religion with us. No ! I am a man, 
and as such every man has claims on my heart. This affecting 
word Neighbor, introduced into human language by the Gospel, 



198 SHORT SERMONS. 

comprelieiids all mankind, without distinction or exception, that is 
to say, our fellow-citizens and strangers. Christians illumined by the 
light of the true faith, and heretics buried in the darkness of error, 
Jews and idolaters, our friends and our enemies. Charity must be 
universal, that is to say, catholic, like our faith. If we refuse our 
affection to even one, be he our enemy and even God's enemy, we 
have no longer the virtue of charity. We must love all men, for 
all are children of the same God, and the Lord showers His graces 
and favors upon all : the dews of heaven fertilize the earth for the 
good and the bad, — for the good and the bad, the sun shines in the 
firmament and sheds heat and light on the world ; such is the will 
of our Father who is in heaven. We must Love our Neighbor, that 
is to say, all mankind, because, like us, they sprung from the 
creative hand of God ; like us, they have received from the So- 
vereign Master, an intelligent and rational soul, upon which God 
stamped His own image ; like us, they have been redeemed by the 
blood of the Man-God, — which flowed upon Calvary for the sal- 
vation of all ; like us, they are all called to eternal life, and they 
have all also the means of attaining it, as long as they live here 
below. We ought to love all men, because we form with them but 
one and the same society, — one and the same family. And do we 
not, my Brethren, wish to be loved by our neighbor ? Therefore, 
it is but just that we should also love them. 

We must Love our Neighbor : this law is engraved in ineffaceable 
characters upon the inmost recesses of the heart ; but lest we should 
not pay sufficient attention to it, Jesus Christ has made of it a new 
commandment for us ; He says to us : "I give you a new com- 
mandment : that you love one another ; as I have loved you, that you 
also love one another."* But our loving Saviour is not satisfied 
with proclaiming the obligation of Loving our Neighbor ; He presents 
himself as the model to be imitated in the accomplishment of this 
sacred duty. Let us then read the history of His life, let us study 
well the actions of this divine model, and we shall learn to love all 
men, without exception of persons, and without excluding any. 
Jesus passed His life in going about doing good, and it was not 
alone to His friends, or to persons remarkable for their dignity, 

* St. John, xiii : 34. 



L O Y E O V O U K N E I G II IJ O R . 199 

their piety, or their wealth, for whom He worked His miracles and 
granted His favors; no, never did any unjust preference enter His 
heart : His blessings were lavished without distinction on great and 
small, — poor and rich, — just and sinful. He came on earth for all, 
He sufiered for all, and shed the last drop of His sacred blood for 
all mankind. I should now be allowed, my Brethren, to address 
you in the words of St. Paul : — I do not believe it necessary to 
exhort you to the practice of charity toward your brethren : you 
have learned how to love one another by observing the example 
which your divine Saviour has given you. — If such be the case, you 
should carefully avoid giving fraternal charity limits which it ought 
not to have, and circumscribing it within a narrow circle within which 
only a few privileged persons are admitted. Kemember, that you 
ought to love all men, even your enemies, for they have not ceased 
to be your neighbors by becoming your enemies, and you ought to 
walk in the footsteps of the Man-God, who, when dying, prayed 
even for His executioners. Your charity must be boundless, it must 
be universal, it must stop only at the gates of hell, it must except 
only the demons and the damned, who are forever excluded from 
the mansions of eternal bliss, because they are the irreconcilable 
enemies of God. But as to men, you must love them without 
exception. But what kind of love should we bear to them ? 

In the first place, we ought to Love our Neighbor for the love of 
God. The Love of our Neighbor ought not to seek its principle and 
its motive in the qualities and perfections which distinguish such 
and such persons, not in our sensibility, not in our self-love and our 
natural inclinations, not in the benefits which we have received from 
our neighbor, not from the services which he has rendered to us ; 
for that would be only a natural love, which could not please God ; 
it would not be Christian. You must Love your Neighbor for the 
love of God, that is to say, because God commands you to do so. 
Whether our neighbor be virtuous or vicious, possessed of qualities 
which suit us, or of defects which disj)lease us ; whether he has 
done us good or evil, he must still have no less share in our affec- 
tion. If you love a person, you esteem the painting which pre- 
serves his features : you should then Love your Neighbor, for he has 
been created to the image and likeness of God, whom you love. 
You should still further love him, because God loved and redeemed 



200 si H O R T S E 11 M O N S . 

him, and invites him to heaven. You should Love your Neighbor 
for the love of God, that is to say, you should love him with a true 
and sincere love. 

Pay attention to this, my Brethren ; God does not want us to 
content ourselves with the simple appearance of love, or to confine 
our love to mere words. No, no, it is not an apparent and deceitful 
love, — a hypocritical love, a love in which the heart takes no part, 
that God requires of us. We must Love our Neighbor as ourselves, 
in heart and in deed ; in heart : that is, you must heartily desire for 
your neighbor every blessing that you can lawfully desire for your- 
selves ; in deed : that is, you must do all in your power to pro- 
cure for your neighbor the blessings which you desire for your- 
selves. Listen to the words of St. Augustine on this subject : 
" Whosoever loves his neighbor as himself, desires for his neighbor 
the same blessings which he desires for himself, and procures for 
him, on every occasion, the same advantages which he procures for 
himself, if he can do so.*' Take care not to inflict on your neigh- 
bor the evil you dread falling on yourselves. "Do nothing to 
another which you would not wish him to do to you; " on the con- 
trary, treat others as you wish to be treated by them. Let us then 
examine some of your desires. Is it not true that you desire that 
others would forgive your faults and foibles, that they would con- 
sole you in your troubles, encourage you in your difficulties, and 
extend a helping hand to you in your misfortune and misery ? Yes, 
you desire that such should be the case. Act thus then, with respect 
to your neighbors, and do to them, what under similar circum- 
stances you would have them to do to you. You are indignant and 
unhappy when you are made the victim of treachery and crime, 
when your character is blackened by detraction and calumny, and a 
false construction put upon your actions ; and you heartily wish to 
escape being wounded by the poisoned tongue of slander. Be 
careful then to avoid committing against your neighbor these same 
crimes, which fill you with so much displeasure when committed 
against yourself. You will never injure your neighbor, by word or 
deed, if you love him as yourself, if charity reign in your hearts. 

How happy, my Brethren, would we be if charity reigned on 
earth! There would be found no more poor, no more miserable 
wretches ; the rich, being generous and benevolent, would relieve them 



COMMANDMENTS OF GOD IN (JKNKKAL. 201 

in their poverty, and comfort them in their misery ; envy, avarice, 
hatred and anger wonkl exist no more ; every man would desire the 
happiness of his fellow being, and would rejoice at his prosperity ; 
brothers would no longer despise one another, insult one another, 
or seek to undermine one another; a mutual esteem, love and desire 
to assist would animate all ; among them there would be but one 
heart and one soul ; and thus accomplishing God's law of love; the 
heavenly virtue of charity, after having worked their happiness here 
below, would introduce them into the abode of eternal delights, 
where those who will have known how to love as God commands, 
will dwell forever. — Amen. 



SERMOiN XL. 

THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD IN GENERAL. 



"If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. — St. Matthew, xix : 17. 

It is not sufficient for one to say in his heart : I love my God, I 
love my neighbor ; God requires that this love should be reduced 
to practice, and manifest itself by acts, especially by a faithful ob- 
servance of His holy law. "He who loves me," says our Saviour, 
"keeps my Commandments; he who loves me not, keeps not my 
Commandments." We love the Lord, and j)rove that we love 
Him by zealously fulfilling His adorable will. Come then, my 
Brethren, let us meditate together on the Law of God : it is this 
law that converts souls, that gives wisdom to little ones, that brings 
joys to the heart and light to the eyes. 

Laws were given to man from the very commencement of the world. 
In creating man, the Lord God set before his eyes and in his heart a 
light, which enabled him to distinguish good from evil. Man was 
created in rectitude, and came from the hand of God, with happy 
inclinations to good, which rendered it easy for him to accomplish 
all his duties. Had he perseveringly walked in the iimocence in 



202 SHORT SERMONS, 

whicli lie was created, he would have easily preserved the knowledge 
of all the obligations which his condition as a reasonable creature 
imposed upon him toward his Creator, toward himself and toward 
his neighbor. But he soon ceased to hear the law w^hich God and 
his reason dictated. Soon too, the corruption of the heart bringing 
on that of the mind, this law was obscured, forgotten, and, as it 
were, blotted out by the power of sin and concupiscence. In this 
miserable state man needed to have recalled to his mind the Com- 
mandments which God had intimated to him at the moment of his 
creation. Nevertheless, the Lord deferred for a long time giving a 
written law to his chosen people, because there still existed a great 
many just men, who by their advice and good example, reminded 
them of the law they had to observe. But, after the long stay 
which the people of God had been compelled to make in idolatrous 
Egypt, it was to be feared that they would follow the example of 
infidel nations, would cease to adore the Creator, would substitute 
falsehood in place of the truth, and offer their incense to idols. So 
the Lord resolved to announce His word to "Jacob, His judgments 
and His Commandments to Israel," and His hand wrote the law 
of the Decalogue. 

The Almighty calls His people from out the bondage of Egypt, 
and three months after their departure from this idolatrous land, 
the children of Israel arrive at the foot of Mount Sinai. The sum- 
mit of the mountain is enveloped in clouds, a thick smoke rises to 
heaven, the whole appears on fire, the lightning flashes, the thunder 
peals, the sound of trumpets is heard on every side, and the voice 
of God comes forth from heaven, exclaiming: "I am the Lord thy 
God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house 
of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou 
shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any 
thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor in the 
waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them nor serve them. 
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Ee- 
member that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Honor thy father 
and thy mother, that thou mayest be long-lived upon the land 
which the Lord thy God will give thee. Thou ' shalt not kill. 
Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou 
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not 



COMMANDMENTS O F Ct O D IN G E R E R A I. . 1^0 J 

covet thy neighbor's house : neither shalt thon desire his wife, nor 
his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any 
thing that is his." 

Behohl, my Brethren, with what solemnity the Lord announces 
His divine will to His people. All this grand and majestic prepar- 
ation tells us, who is here the legislator : it is the all-powerful and 
eternal God, the Lord of lords, the King of kings; and, by engrav- 
ing His law on stone. He himself teaches us the esteem with which 
we ought to regard it, the respectful submission with which we 
ought to receive, and everywhere and always practice it. 

Although these ten Commandments were given at first only to the 
people of Israel, yet you must not imagine that they were not also 
imposed upon us. To us, Christians, as well as to the Israelites, 
this holy law was given, for our divine Saviour tells us, that He 
came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill and perfect it ; and He 
adds : "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments." A 
young man comes to find Him and says to Him: " Good Master, 
what good shall I do, that I may have life everlasting?" Our 
meek Saviour answered him: '*If thou will enter into life, keep 
the Commandments. He saith to Him : which? And Jesus said: 
Thou shalt do no murder : Thou shalt not commit adultery : Thou 
shalt not steal : Thou shalt not bear false witness : Honor thy father 
and thy mother : and. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."* 
These are exactly the Commandments of the ancient Decalogue. 
We are therefore obliged to observe this law, for it is the law of the 
Supreme Legislator, the Master of the world, the Creator and Judge 
of all men ; we are then bound to observe the Decalogue, for the 
Lord did not come to revoke these divine Commandments, but on 
the contrary. He gave them a new force, — a new authority, and He 
declares that we can attain heaven only by walking in the way of 
these Commandments. 

It is necessary to observe the Commandments to attain heaven. 
Take care, therefore, that you do not say with some heretics of our 
time, that it is impossible to fulfill these Commandments. To speak 
thus, is a blasphemy, for God declares that He commands us no- 
thing that is above our strength, j It is an impiety, for our Saviour 

» St. Matthew, xix : 16, 17, 18, 19. + Deuteronomy, xxx : 11. 



204 SHORT SERMONS. 

promises us His Holy Spirit to aid us in walking along the path of 
the Commandments.* It is a heresy, for the Church declares, with 
St. Augustine, that God commands nothing that is impossible, but 
He bids us ask, however difficult the thing we undertake, and He will 
give us the power to accomplish it. God is too good, says the Apos' 
tie, ever to require of us any thing which is above our strength ; the 
law of God does not issue from the throne of an unjust and severe 
tyrant, but from the throne of a tender father. If the kingdom of 
heaven is of difficult access, if the road to it is narrow, let us con- 
sole ourselves and not lose courage, for each of us can say with the 
Apostle : "I can do every thing in God who strengthens me ; His 
grace makes all things easy." The Word of truth and of life, Jesus 
Christ himself, has said that His yoke is sweet and his burden light. 
**Come to me," says He, *'all you that labor, and are heavy laden, 
and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of 
me, because I am meek and humble of heart : and you shall find 
rest to your souls. For my yoke is sweet, and my burden 
light. f " St. John, the beloved Apostle, tells us that "His 
Commandments are not heavy. J" Love, and you will easily 
do what God commands you ; pray, and you will be strong 
enough to fulfill His holy law. It is very true, that, were we 
dependent on our own weakness, we could not accomplish all the 
law of God requires of us ; but ask, and you shall receive ; the 
assistance of grace will never be wanting to you ; God will grant it 
to him who sincerely desires and humbly seeks it. Keep the Com- 
mandments, — it is in your power to do so. 

If you keep the Commandments, God promises you a great 
reward. Yes, says the prophet, "much will be given to him who 
keeps the law." To those who keep the law, God promises the 
possession of the kingdom of heaven after their death, and even in 
this life he loads them with favors and grants them all kinds of 
blessings. It is for them, that the " good, pressed down, shaken 
together and running over measure" is prejDared. God acknowl- 
edges them, and treats them as His children : He hears their prayers, 
consoles them in their afflictions, assists them in their wants, aids 
them in danger, strengthens them in temptation, in a word, bestows 

« Ezechiel, xxxvi : 27. t St. Matthew, xi : 28. 29, 30. t 1 St John, v : 3. 



ADORATION OF GOD. 205 

upon them a profound and heartfelt peace, -which is a foretaste of 
that they are destined one day to enjoy in heaven. 

Let us apply ourselves continually, my Brethren, to meditate 
upon the holy law, — the divine Commandments of the Lord, which 
ought to be the rule of all our actions and conduct, and upon the 
fulfillment of which depends our happiness in this life, and in the 
life to come. Let us love this heavenly law, — let us love God who 
gave it to us. If we truly love we shall find the burden light and 
the yoke sweet, w^e shall carry it with joy, and with St. Augustine, 
will say : "Lord, give me grace to do what thou commandest, and 
command what thou pleasest." And the grace will be granted to us, 
and our hearts will receive strength and wonderful energy. Should 
it, however, happen that the observance of the law appears burden- 
some to us, through our own weakness; should it happen that we 
experience pain in walking along the straight and narrow road which 
the hand of God has marked out for us, and in which Jesus, loaded 
with His cross, has preceded us, inviting us to follow Him : let us 
cast our eyes toward those eternal mansions, and remember that 
there a treasure infinitely rich awaits us, — God himself, Avho will be 
our reward exceedingly great ; thus will we be inspired with new 
courage and strength to continue the combat, to run, as the Apostle 
expresses it, until we have attained the goal, and borne off the 
prize of eternal life. Heaven awaits him, who on earth will have 
done the will of the Lord. — Amen. 



SERMOJ( XLl. 

FIRST COMMANDMENT. 

ADORATION OF GOD 



**Thou shalt not have strange gods before me." — Exodus, xx : 3. 

Christians, we are all obliged to observe the precepts of the 
Decalogue, for our divine Saviour has said to us : " If thou wilt enter 



206 SHOKT SERMONS. 

into life, keep the Commandments." Refuse not then to take upon 
yourselves this yoke, for it is the yoke of the Lord, and it is sweet 
and light. Shrink not from the holy law of God, our Father ; it 
will be always easy for you to follow and practice it, if you are 
careful to ask the assistance of grace, which the divine Groodness 
will never refuse to prayer well made. Let us therefore examine 
to-day what the First Commandment of God ordains, and what it 
forbids: "1 am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange 
gods before me : thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor 
the likeness of any thing, thou shalt not adore them, nor serve 
them. One God alone shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thou 
serve." 

What then does God command by this First Commandment : 
"the Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thoU 
serve." He commands us to render to himself the worship of ador- 
ation which is due to Him, and to love Him with our whole heart : 
that is, my Brethren, we must believe that God is the Creator and 
sovereign Master of all things ; we must place in Him all our confi- 
dence, give Him all our love, and consecrate all the powers of our 
soul to Him, as to the Being who alone can make us truly happy, 
by communicating to us infinite wealth in the possession of his own 
adorable goodness and beauty. Such is the worship of adoration 
which the heavenly Father requires His children to render to Him,; 
and which essentially consists in the practice of the virtues of faith, 
hope, charity and religion. 

By faith, we rise to the knowledge of the infinite majesty of 
God, and we honor and adore His veracity, by holding as true every 
thing He has been pleased to reveal to the world. By hoj^e, we 
place an entire confidence in God, and, by this confidence, recognize 
and adore His omnipotence, — we honor and adore His fidelity in 
promises. Charity makes us love God above all things, and, by 
thus loving Him, we honor His sovereign bounty, and render to 
Him a true and perfect adoration. In fine, by the virtue of religion, 
we revere and adore the excellence of the divine Being, we acknowl- 
edge that He is the sovereign Ruler, the supreme Lord of all things ; 
this is the virtue which regulates the respect which is due to Him, 
and to every thing which is consecrated to His worship. 

We have a body and a soul, and we have received both one and 



ADORATION OF GOD. 207 

the other from the bounty of Gcod : we must therefore render to 
God a twofold adoration, — the adoration of the soul, and the adora- 
tion of the body: — interior and exterior worship. 

If, penetrated with a holy respect, your heart humbles itself 
before the supreme Majesty ; if it rejoices in the comtemplation 
of the infinite perfections of the sovereign Master ; if it glorifies 
the grandeur, the power, and the bounty of its God ; if, from 
the bottom of your soul, you acknowledge that the Lord is the 
source of all good, that you have received all from His benefi- 
cent hand, your soul, your body, your whole being; — that you 
depend upon God for all things : if such are your thoughts and 
sentiments, you render to God true homage, interior adoration, that 
of the soul and of the heart, wdiich is so pleasing to the Almighty. 
This adoration you can render to Him at all times, in all places, 
and under every circumstance, by the motions of a devout and sub- 
missive heart, ever devoted to His service, and filled with the 
thought of His divine presence. 

If, to the homage of the heart you join that of Avords, signs, 
or outward demonstrations, which evince the sentiments of vener- 
ation which you have in your soul, such for instance as the act of 
kneeling, of prostrating yourselves, of elevating your hands and 
eyes toward heaven, then you render to God both interior and exterior 
adoration, — the adoration of the body united with that of the soul. 
But if, while you outwardly adore God, while you are prostrate 
before His holy altar, and your mouth pronounces the accustomed 
form of prayer, you do not adore God from the bottom of your 
heart, what is your adoration ? You honor Him with your lips, but 
your heart is far from Him. Of what avail then is this adoration? 
It is vain and useless, says our Saviour; for it is the homage of the 
heart that God demands, — the homage of confidence and love. Is 
not this what we require of other men ? Do we not reckon as 
nothing mere outside show ? We demand a love that is cordial, 
and we reject those demonstrations of friendship which the heart 
belies; we desire that our friends should love us sincerely. But, 
my Brethren, is not our God called the God of the heart ? Do not 
therefore, suppose that He will be satisfied with mere appeai-ances ; 
He requires that our soul be united with our body for adoration ; 
and if only our body bend, while the soul remains inattentive and 



208 SHORT SKKMONS. 

refuses its homage, the Lord pronounces us hypocrites and liars. We 
must then adore God in spirit and in truth : such is the worship 
which He exacts of us, and which the first precept of the Decalogue 
enjoins. Let us now see what this same Commandment prohibits. 

It prohibits idolatry and superstition. The sin of idolatry consists 
in transferring to the creature or to vain idols, the homage and 
adoration which are due only to the sovereign majesty of God. 

When the Jews were about being carried away captives to Baby- 
lon, the prophet addressed them in these words : "But now, you 
shall see in Babylon gods of gold, and of silver, and of stone, 
and of wood, borne upon shoulders, causing fear to the Gentiles. 
Beware therefore that you imitate not the doings of others, and be 
afraid, and the fear of them should seize upon you. But when you 
shall see the multitude behind and before, adoring them, say you in 
your hearts : Thou oughtest to be adored, Lord."* And we also, 
my Brethren, ought often to say: ''Thou alone, Lord, oughtest 
to be adored ;" for we are in this world, and what is the world, but 
a vast Babylon, given i^p to the worship of idols ? It is true, 
people do not adore men like themselves, they do not worship idols 
of wood or stone, they do not practice the gross idolatry of paganism, 
— but is there not another kind of idolatry in their hearts ? Alas ! 
how great is the number of the senseless men who refuse to adore 
God, who idolize themselves, and who pass their whole lives ador- 
ing pride, vanity, gold and silver, sensual pleasures, impurity, 
gluttony and drunkenness ! These are the divinities to which these 
people prostitute their incense and their adoration. Oh ! shun this 
criminal idolatry, and, mindful of God, say to Him from the bottom 
of your hearts : '* Thou alone, O Lord, oughtest to be adored." 

There are rules which the Church has appointed to be observed in 
her sacred worship, and from which it is never lawful to depart. 
Always wise in her aims, she wishes to avoid the inconvenience of 
arbitrary practices which would disturb the beautiful uniformity, 
that beautiful harmony which she desires so much should prevail in 
all her august ceremonies. Now, you fall into superstition, if you 
deviate from these principles, and employ in religion certain un- 
authorized customs. Thus you are guilty of superstition, and you 

* Baruch, vi ; .3, 4, 5. 



ADORATION OF GOD. 209 

commit sin, if you believe that by reciting such and such prayers, a 
certain number of times, at such an hour, or in such a place, you 
will be cured of the sickness by which you are afflicted, or that you 
will recover the property you may have lost. You are guilty of 
superstition, and you commit sin, if you prefer the worship of the 
saints to that of God ; if you have a presumptuous confidence in 
their protection ; if you take it on yourself to violate any of the 
Commandments, vainly trusting ^n some practice of devotion you 
may have adopted. You are guilty of superstition, and you commit 
sin, if you observe certain days as unfortunate, certain circumstances 
as bad omens ; if you consult fortune-tellers, or pretended sooth- 
sayers, to learn from them future things, to discover stolen goods, 
or any thing of the kind. Know that this is an attack on the rights 
of God, who reserves to himself the knowledge of those future 
events which depend on the action of free agents. 

Avoid superstition, God commands you to shun it. But, at the 
same time, be on your guard against those infidels so numerous in 
our day, who treat as superstitions the greater part of our dogmas 
and sacred ceremonies. There never will be superstition in the 
practices and devotions taught and sanctioned by the Church of 
Jesus Christ ; it is God who enlightens and directs her, and He 
will be with her all days, even to the consummation of ages. 

Let us take the resolution to observe faithfully what the First 
Commandment of the Lord ordains, and to avoid carefully what it 
forbids. Let us constantly walk in the practice of the virtues of 
faith, hope, charity and religion. Let us place our trust in the 
goodness and providence of the Lord our God, who perpetually 
watches over us, and takes us under His Fatherly protection. Let 
us adore our God, and let us adore none but Him ; let us render to 
Him true worship, — the worship of the heart, the soul and mind ; 
let us be submissive to His holy will, and seek to comply with it, 
in all things and under all circumstances, that we may merit the 
recompense which the Lord promises to those who shall faithfully 
persevere to the end, and which I sincerely wish you all from my 
whole heart. — Amen. 
18 



210 SHORT SEBMONS. 

SERMON XLII. 

FIEST COMMANDMENT.— (OONTINDED.) 

INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 



"Thou Bhalt not have strange gods before me." — ^Exodus, xx : 3. 

The worship which we must render to God, is that of a sincere 
adoration,^ — it is the worship of the soul and of the mind, of the 
heart and of the body. We fulfill this lioly duty perfectly, when 
we practice the virtues of faith, hope, charity and religion. You 
adore the Lord, your God, and you adore Him alone. But, my 
Brethren, we honor and invoke the Angels and the Saints ; we even 
lionor their images and relics. Is this a lawful worship ? We are 
going to see that the law of God does not prohibit it. We have, 
in fact, already seen a proof of it in the beautiful salutation addressed 
by the angel to Mary. 

We lionor and invoke the Saints ; we honor their images and 
relics ; is this permitted ? My Brethren, the law of God does not 
forbid it. There is a vast difference between the worship which we 
render to God and that which we pay to the Saints. We render to 
God the worship of adoration, whereas we honor the Saints only 
with an inferior and subordinate worship, as beings who are infi- 
nitely below God, who are His. creatures, but His friends, and our 
protectors in heaven. It is from God alone that we expect every 
good and perfect gift, for He alone is the author of grace, — He alone 
can bestow grace; hence, when we address God, we Say: "Lord, 
have mercy on us ; Lord, hear us." But when we invoke the Saints, 
we say: "Pray for us," and we ask that they would unite their 
supplications with ours, — that they would support our prayers with 
the influence and power which they possess as the friends of God, 
to whose prayers, no doubt. He grants His graces and blessings 
much more freely than to ours, sinners as we are. It is not there- 



INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 211 

fore from the Saints that we expect directly to receive the favors of 
heaven, but from God through their mediation. It is not even 
through their prayers that we hope to attain the object of our 
petitions, but through the merits of Jesus Christ, to whom they 
themselves are indebted for the degree of glory which they have 
attained. No, my Brethren, we do not adore the Saints, we adore 
none but God ; but we honor them, because such is the will of God ; 
we pray to them and invoke their prayers, because the Holy Ghost 
leads us to do so. He says to us in the holy Council of Trent : 
*' That the Saints who reign with Jesus Christ offer to God their 
prayers for men; that it is good and useful to invoke them in an 
humble manner, and to fly to their aid and succor to obtain the 
favors of God, through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone 
is our Saviour and Redeemer." 

Yes, it is good and useful to invoke the Saints, for God takes 
pleasure in giving what they ask. He has innumerable times 
granted the greatest favors to their prayers, and particularly to the 
powerful intercession of the blessed Virgin. Why therefore should 
we not have confidence in the prayers of the Saints ? Why should 
we not rely on their protection, and expect from them powerful 
assistance in our weakness and misery ? Are they not the friends 
of God ? Are they not, like ourselves, children of the Church, and 
members of that body of which Jesus Christ is the head ? Are 
they not our brethren, and have they ceased to love us, because 
they are happy in heaven ? No, no, my Brethren, they do not cease 
to offer to the Lord golden censers filled with the odors of their 
prayers and ours. 

But by invoking the Saints do we not offer an injury to the medi- 
ation of Jesus Christ ? No, since He himself teaches us by the 
organ of His Church, that it is good and useful to have recourse 
to their intercession. While invoking the Saints, we do not cease 
to acknowledge that our divine Jesus is our sole Mediator with 
His eternal Father, and we profess that it is only through His 
infinite merits that the Saints are what they are, and can obtain 
what they ask. 

My Brethren, honor and invoke the Saints, and you will make 
yourselves agreeable to God and to His divine Son, who was pleased 
to glorify them among us by the numerous miracles which they 



212 SHORT SERMONS. 

wrought in His name. But above all, honor and invoke Mary, 
the holy Mother of God, the Queen of heaven, for her divine 
Son has placed in her hands an immense treasure of power and 
mercy. 

It is good, it is useful to honor and invoke the Saints ; hut do not 
confine your devotion to themselves, honor also their holy relics and 
images. Why should you not do so ? Is it not true, that we pre- 
serve with affection and respect what belonged to a cherished and 
revered friend ? The piece of furniture, the book which belonged 
to my father or my mother, I preserve with a tender and respectful 
remembrance. We embalm the bodies of distinguished men ; we 
receive and hold in great veneration the lifeless remains of heroes, 
and of those who were illustrious in the arts and sciences. When 
Moses left Egypt, he carried with him the bOnes of the patriarch 
Joseph, to whose memory we also find that his brethren erected a tomb 
in the promised land. Thus also the primitive Christians collected 
and preserved with a holy respect the blood and bodies of martyrs. 
The torn garments, the earth on which their blood had fallen, in a 
word, any thing belonging to them or connected with their combat, 
were kept with a pious care and respect in the houses of Christians, 
or placed on the altars of churches. They erected magnificent 
temples over the tombs of martyrs, — over these holy men, who 
have purpled with their blood the crown of the Church. 

We honor the relics of the Saints, — we preserve them with vener- 
ation, and in doing so, we are supported, as you have seen, by the 
impulses of the human "heart, and by the practice of every age and 
of every country. We are also defended by the authority of the 
Church. The Church has always manifested a profoundly religious 
respect for the bodies and relics of the Saints ; because these Saints 
have been, as it were, the victims of Grod by their martyrdom or by 
their penance, the living members of Jesus Christ, the temples of 
the Holy Ghost, and the instruments whom God had selected and 
employed to spread abroad the splendor of His glory. Beside, my 
Brethren, the miracles which God has worked through the relics of 
the Saints, authorize the practice of the Church in so convincing a 
manner that it is impossible to find any thing better established. 
The sacred Scriptures itself tells us that a dead body recovered life 
by simply touching the bones of the prophet Eliseus. We read in 



INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 213 

the Acts of the Apostles, that "God wrought special miracles" by 
the hand of Paul. " So that even there were brought from his 
body to the sick, handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed 
from them, and the wicked spirits went out of them."* Should we 
not then honor what God honors and glorifies so much? Beside, 
confidence in the Saints, and in their holy relics, is too universal to 
be open to any suspicion of fraud, and too deeply rooted in the 
hearts of men for heresy or impiety ever to eradicate it. 

My Brethren, it is said in the Decalogue : "Thou shalt not make 
to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in 
heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in 
the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve 
them."f Do not these words condemn the respect and veneration 
which we render to images ? No ; for they do not absolutely pro- 
hibit the making of images, but only the making of images for the 
purpose of adoring them ; they do not forbid all honor and marks of 
respect to statues, pictures and images, but they condemn all homage 
paid to idols. But I appeal to yourselves, — when you venerate 
sacred images, do you adore them ? Oh, no ; you know too well 
that God and His Church would condemn you, were your worship 
to stop with the images themselves ; were you, for example, to pay 
to the statue of the blessed Virgin, or to that of any other Saint, the 
supreme worship which belongs only to God. But, on the contrary, 
God and His Church commend your devotion, when you venerate, as 
the Holy Ghost teaches you, the cross, the images of our Saviour, of 
the blessed Virigin and of the Saints, because then your worship is free 
from all idolatry and from all superstition. Instructed in the school 
of the Church of Jesus Christ, you honor and venerate these images, 
because they recall to your minds recollections dear to your hearts. 
You never think of attributing to these images any divine power or 
virtue; you ask nothing from them, you place no confidence in 
them ; but the honor which you pay them, you wish to refer to 
those holy spirits, of whom these images are intended as represen- 
tations. You kiss them, you kneel before them, but it is your Lord 
whom you adore, it is His saints whom you venerate when you do 
so. Herein you but imitate the child that imprints a kiss of love 

* Acts, xix: 11, 12. t Exodus, xx : 4, 5. 



214 SHORT SERMONS. 

on its father's or mother's portrait. No one surely who has a heart 
and knows how to love, would condemn it for acting thus. My 
dear Brethren, do not forget this instruction, and in your devotion 
and in the honor which you render to the Saints, to their images, 
and to their holy relics, avoid all superstition, — all idolatry. Never 
depart from the teachings of the Church ; respect and honor the 
Saints, but in such a manner that the honor and the worship which 
are due to God may thereby suffer no prejudice ; honor them so, 
that your worship may be agreeable to the Saints themselves, and 
useful and salutary to your souls. Remember that the best, the 
most useful, and the most acceptable worship which you can offer 
the Saints, consists in the faithful and constant imitation of the 
virtues which they practiced. Compassion, love of God and love 
of their neighbor, patience, resignation and purity, have conducted 
them to the happiness of heaven. You must walk in the same 
way: enter then on this path, and pray devoutly to the Saints that 
you may persevere in it. They also will then pray for you, they 
will obtain for you abundant graces, and you will accomplish the 
holy will of God in all things : your recompense will be eternal 
bliss. — Amen. 



SERMON XLIII. 

SECOND COMMANDMENT. 

ON TAKING THE LORD'S NAME. 



" Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." — Exodus, xx : 7. 

To God alone belongs the worship of adoration, for He is the sov- 
ereign Master of heaven and earth, and it would be a great crime 
to transfer this worship to any creature. It is true, we bend and 
prostrate ourselves before the images of the saints, in the presence 



NAME. 215 

of their bones ; we honor and invoke the saints, but we carefully 
abstain from adoring them. This worship is free from all idolatry 
and superstition; God approves of it, and the infallible Church 
declares that it is good, useful aud salutary. Such, my Brethren, 
is a summary of our last instruction. To-day I commence the 
explanation of the second precept of the Decalogue. 

At the invocation of the thrice holy name of the Lord, prodigies 
are wrought, miracles are effected, the powers of hell tremble, 
angels rejoice, courage revives in the heart of man, and consolation 
and hope return to the soul of the unfortunate. 

We feel naturally impelled to invoke this adorable name, and in 
danger and affliction we exclaim : my God ! A natural inclina- 
tion moves us to call upon the name of the Lord, to obtain thereby 
aid and assistance ; a natural inclination also leads us to call upon 
the name of the Lord to confirm the truth of our words, or the 
sincerity of our promises. Is this inclination good, proper and 
praiseworthy ? Yes, if it be regulated and kept within just bounds. 
Is it therefore permitted to swear, to take an oath, to call God to 
witness ? Swearing, or the act of taking an oath, so far from being 
bad in its nature, is, on the contrary, an act of religion, an act of 
homage rendered to the majesty of God and to His infinite perfec- 
tions. You call to witness that God from whose piercing eyes 
nothing can escape, who discovers even the most secret thoughts of 
our hearts, and discerns in an instant the truth or the falsehood of 
every thing that issues from our mouth : you therefore proclaim the 
infinite knowledge of God ; you render homage to His immutable 
justice ; and you submit yourselves to the judgment of Him who is 
the all-powerful protector of innocence, the sovereign judge, and 
the supreme avenger of all falsehood and all injustice. 

The holiest saints and even God himself have made use of oaths. 
It is therefore impossible to doubt that an oath may be lawful. So 
the Decalogue does not say to us absolutely : "Thou shalt not take 
the name of the Lord thy God;" but it says to us: "Thou shalt 
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." The law of God 
requires that great discretion should be used in taking oaths, and 
that we should have recourse to them only when there exists a real 
necessity ; it demands, above all, that we should never employ oaths 
unless they be conformable to truth and to the ends of justice. 



216 SHORT SERMONS. 

God said: "And thou shalt swear: As the Lord liveth, in truth, 
and in judgment, and in justice."* An oath therefore must be 
made in truth. What you affirm on oath must be true, and while 
you swear it, you must believe that the thing is such as you affirm 
it to be. If you bind yourself to any thing by an oath, you must 
be firmly resolved to discharge your engagement with fidelity and 
at the specified time. 

An oath must be taken vrith judgment ; that is to say, we should 
not take an oath on every light and trifling occasion, without 
necesssity or without reflection ; but with prudence, discretion, and 
after mature consideration. Therefore, before you take an oath, 
first always carefully examine whether necessity oblige you to the 
act, and whether the thing be sufficiently important to deserve 
being attested in so solemn a manner. 

An oath must be made with justice ; by which I mean, that the 
object of the oath, or the thing affirmed, should be just, reasonable, 
honest and equitable ; otherwise you sin by swearing, and you also 
sin by fulfilling your oath. *'An oath should never subserve ini- 
quity, says St. Jerome. 

Truth, judgment and justice ; these are the conditions of an oath, 
and if these are wanting to it, it is always sinful, and becomes then 
a perjury and not an oath. "If an oath be without truth, it is 
false ; if without judgment, it is indiscreet ; if without justice, it is 
pernicious," says St. Thomas. 

"Refrain from oaths," says St. Augustine, "except when you 
are compelled to have recourse to them. It is difficult to swear 
right, and always criminal to swear falsely." The Holy Ghost 
says: "Let not thy mouth be accustomed to swearing: for in it 
there are many falls. And let not the naming of God be usual in 
thy mouth. A man that sweareth much, shall be filled with iniquity; 
and a scourge shall not depart from his house, and it shall be filled 
with his punishment."* Avoid therefore, my Brethren, taking the 
name of the Lord your God in vain ; dread the sin of perjury, for 
in the sight of God it is a heinous crime, and His supreme justice 
will one day punish it in the severest manner. 

But this is not all that the Second Commandment forbids. It 

* Jeremias, iv : 2. t Ecclesiasticus, xxiii : 9, 10, 12. 



ON TAKING THE LORD's NAME. 217 

also prohibits those dreadful imprecations which you utter against 
yourselves and others. Your mouth is filled with maledictions ; 
unfortunate man ! Do you not know that God sometimes permits 
that he who curses his neighbor in the bitterness of his soul should 
be heard ? You wish the death of your wife or your children ; God, 
to punish you, will take them from this world at the time when you 
most need their services. In times of anger, you break out into 
curses on your cattle, against every thing that surrounds you ; God 
will not allow these sins to go unpunished ; the curse will fall upon 
your stock, on your furniture, on your land, and on every thing that 
belongs to you. Be cautious therefore, my Brethren, the law of God 
forbids these maledictions and evil wishes, and whoever becomes 
guilty of them, insults the adorable name of God. 

Blasphemy is another sin opposed to the Second Commandment. 
Blasphemy, or words injurious to God, to the saints, or to religion ; 
alas ! how many people in the world blaspheme ! How many have 
the audacity to attribute to God what is repugnant to His divine 
nature; how many accuse Him of injustice, of blindness, of in- 
difference, and sacrilegiously outrage His divine perfections ! How 
many too, impiously deny to God what belongs to Him ! Thus 
they blaspheme, who dare assert that God does not take care of His 
creatures, while our divine Lord Jesus Christ assures us, that not 
even a hair of our heads can fall to the ground without the per- 
mission of our heavenly Father ! How many people there are who 
dare speak of the divine attributes with contempt, with raillery 
and insult ! How many unworthy Christians associate the holy 
name of God with words, which when joined to it form a most 
horrible blasphemy ! But I will speak more at length on this 
dreadful sin at some future time. All I will say about it to-day is, 
that God abominates blasphemy ; avoid this crime then, and when- 
ever you hear any one blaspheming, bless and glorify the holy name 
of God in your heart, and offer a short prayer. 

But, my Brethren, it is not enough for us to avoid taking the 
name of God in vain, we are moreover bound to honor it. You 
fulfill this precept, and honor the name of the Lord your God, when 
you pray to Him, when you sing His praises with true sentiments 
of devotion. You honor the name of God, when you thank Him 
for His blessings, and say with the royal prophet : " Bless the Lord^ 
19 



218 SHORT SERMONS. 

O my soul: and let all that is within me hless His holy name."* 
You honor the name of God, when you have recourse to Him in 
your wants, and resign yourself to His holy will. 

You honor the name of God, when you are careful to refer to 
His glory all your thoughts, your desires and works, when you place 
yourself under His all-powerful protection, when your intention is 
sincerely to act in His name, and to walk in the practice of good 
works, that you may thereby please Him. 

You honor the name of God, when you faithfully accomplish the 
vows you have made. The Holy Ghost says : ** If thou hast vowed 
any thing to God, defer not to pay it : for an unfaithful and foolish 
promise displeaseth Him : but whatever thou hast vowed, pay it : 
and it is much better not to vow, than after a vow not to perform 
the things promised, "f For by violating your vows, you fail in 
the promise you made to God, which is in some manner to manifest 
a desire to deceive Him, and to become guilty of a lie, and of a 
kind of injustice to Him. 

Let me conjure you, by the interest I take in your salvation, never 
abuse the name of God. Refrain not only from gross swearing, 
from those shocking profanations of the Lord's name, but also from 
every oath that is not necessary, from every expression which might 
be taken as an oath, and from every word that is disrespectful to 
God. 

Let us speak of God only to bless and honor Him, and thereby 
induce others to serve Him. Let His name be hallowed both by 
our words and actions ; may the holy name of this God of good- 
ness and mercy be blessed, who has done so much to make himself 
be loved by us ! My Brethren, let us love God, and we will respect 
Him ; let us love Him, and we will honor Him ; let us love Him, 
and He will love us ; He will come to us, and He will receive us 
one day into the society of the angels and saints, where we will 
praise, bless and glorify Him for everlasting ages. — Amen. 

* Psalms, cii : 1. t Ecclesiastes, v : 3,4. 



ON THE SIN OF PROFANITY. 219 

SERMON XLIV. 

SECOND COMMANDMENT.— (coNTnrtTED.) 

ON THE SIN OF PROFANITY. 



"He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die." — Leviticus, 
xxiv: 16. 

The holy Scriptures tell us that at the sound of the sacred name 
of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven, on earth and in hell. 
They likewise assure us that there is no other name given to men 
whereby they can be saved.* Is it not but too true that there is 
no other name which will cause the damnation of so many, by the 
profane and blasphemous use which they make of it ? To it may 
well be applied the prophetic words of Simeon, that it is set up for 
the fall and resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which 
shall be contradicted. How little people reflect on this ? In truth, 
the number of those who blaspheme this sacred name seems to 
increase every day. God grant, my Brethren, that I may have the 
happiness of making you rightly comprehend the horrid nature of 
the sin of blasphemy, and how much you ought to dread loading 
your consciences with it. This is what I propose to do in the 
present instruction. 

He who blasphemes commits a sacrilege. A sacrilege is the pro- 
fanation of a holy thing. Now what more holy than the name of 
the Lord? He himself says, ''From the rising of the sun even to 
the going down of the same, my name is great among the gentiles ; 
and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name 
a clean oblation. "f The blasphemer does not respect and adore, 
on the contrary, he profanes and insults this holy name. He is 
therefore guilty of sacrilege. 

• Acts, iv: 12. t Malachias, i: 11. 



220 SHORT SERMONS. 

He who blasphemes is guilty of impiety. By impiety, is understood 
the contempt of God, or of a holy thing ; and to live in impiety, is 
at the same time to be destitute of religion, to be careless of salva- 
tion, and to glory in sin. I now ask the blasphemer, how great is 
the injury he offers to God, whom he curses by his blasphemy ? 
What kind of religion has that man, who from morning till night, 
has the audacity to treat his God as he would not dare treat the 
meanest wretch on earth ? What does he care for his salvation, 
when he so constantly inflicts on his own soul mortal wounds, heaps 
crime upon crime on his conscience, and glories in his wickedness, 
which he commits so boldly and so openly ? The blasphemer is 
therefore guilty of impiety ; and I will add, without weakening the 
force of what I have already said, that the blasphemer is a madman. 

For, must not that person be mad who consents to lose the 
greatest of all blessings, and exposes himself to infinite pains, — to 
eternal torments, without receiving any profit or advantage from his 
crime ? But the blasphemer, by his criminal conduct, loses heaven 
and deserves hell ; for that is the place to which his blasphemies 
bring him. Tell me now what advantage does the blasphemer 
derive from the commission of these awful sins ? I tell the drunk- 
ard that he will lose his soul, but he replies that he has at least the 
pleasure of drinking, and thereby drowns his sorrows and gratifies 
his appetite. I say to the sensualist, that, if he persist in his wicked- 
ness, he can never see God ; but he answers me : let us rejoice and be 
merry while we have time. Blasphemer, I come to warn you 
on the part of God that you are damning your soul, that it will 
be forever excluded from heaven, and that it will have to suffer 
an eternity of torments in the flames of hell. What will you then 
have gathered from all your blasphemies ? How foolish you are 
to renounce unutterable happiness and to rush into endless woes, 
by continuing to commit a sin, — an awful sin, which procures you 
neither gain, nor profit, nor pleasure; unless perhaps you take 
pleasure in committing sin, unless you commit it for the mere 
delight of doing so, which I cannot believe, for that is the peculiar 
disposition of the devil, and I recoil from the idea that you would 
wish to make yourself like to him. But what I am compelled to 
admit is, that you show more ingratitude to God than the very 
demons. I descend in spirit into the abyss of hell, and I hear 



ON THE SIN OF PROFANITY. 221 

a multitude of criminals blaspheming the holy name of God. I 
ask them why they utter these horrid insults and maledictions 
against a God infinitely holy. Their sole reply is to point to the 
flames which consume them. I understand them : they blaspheme, 
because God punishes them in the most excruciating manner. I 
return to earth, and hear the same imprecations and same blas- 
phemies which I heard in hell. Why, I exclaim, do you dare blas- 
pheme your God ? Ah ! miserable wretch, why do you blaspheme 
Him ? He has created you to His own image and likeness ; He 
endowed you with an immortal soul, capable of knowing, loving and 
serving Him; He gave you His only beloved Son, the object of His 
complacency, who, through His love for you, — to deliver you from 
hell and open the gates of heaven for you, chose to die on the cross. 
He spares you, does not punish you as you deserve, offers you for- 
giveness, provided you turn from your evil ways. Such is the 
conduct of God in your regard, full of goodness and mercy ; and, 
although He has bestowed upon you so many blessings, yet, ungrate- 
ful wretch as you are, like the reprobates in hell, you blaspheme 
His adorable name ! I tell you, for it is the truth, you resemble 
the reprobate during life ; you will share their torments for eternity. 
How can it be supposed that God will admit into his eternal king- 
dom, to sing His praises with the saints and angels, those who, 
during their entire lives, have done nothing but curse and blaspheme 
His holy name ? My Brethren, every one will go into his own 
country : heaven belongs to the true children of God, and hell will 
be the last home of blasphemers. 

If you do not wish to perish, and perish forever, you who blas- 
pheme, be converted from your evil ways, and change your lives. 
And, to .correct your habit of swearing and blaspheming, go to the 
root of the evil. Whence do these sins arise? From quickness 
of temper, from anger and passion. Control then the violence of 
your temper, and whenever you feel yourselves carried away by a 
sudden fit of impatience, impose silence on your tongue ; and should 
some guilty words escape your lips, inflict some penance on yourself; 
and continue to do so, until the habit be entirely eradicated. My dear 
Brethren, give some little charity to the poor every time you have 
the misfortune to curse, or swear, or blaspheme, and you will soon 
correct yourselves of the evil, and instead of blasphemy, the words 



SHORT SERMONS. 

of holy Job will be on your lips : "Blessed be the name of the 
Lord forever !" 

But is it enough to destroy this sin in yourselves ? No ; you 
ought also seek to destroy it in all those over whom you have con- 
trol ; you must use all your authority to prevent them also from 
insulting God. Are your children guilty of it? reprove them 
seriously, and if they relapse, chastise them. Do your domestics 
and servants blaspheme ? give them time to root out this sinful 
habit; but if you see that they make no improvement, dismiss 
them, and rid your house of the presence of those enemies of God, 
who are a scandal to you and your children. But what must you 
do when you hear those over whom you have no control blasphem- 
ing ? Pray for them, my dear Brethren, and from the bottom of 
your hearts praise God, and repeat those words of the Lord's 
Prayer : " Hallowed be Thy name," my God ! 

There is no crime, says St. Chrysostom, greater than blasphemy. 
The tongue of the blasphemer is a dagger which pierces the heart 
of God ; a sword, says St. Bernardine of Sienna, which cuts 
it to pieces. Blasphemy is even a more grievous crime than 
apostasy, says St. Jerome. They who blaspheme God in His 
glory, cries out St. Augustine, sin more grievously than they who 
crucified Him on earth. 

My Brethren, fly this detestable sin, which is so injurious ta the 
awful majesty of God. Employ with the utmost care all the means 
necessary to preserve yourselves from it, as well as from profane 
oaths, which, though less criminal than blasphemy, still insult the 
holy name of God, which angels and men should never speak of 
but to adore. Fly, oh, fly the occasions of this sin, anger, drunken- 
ness, and the company of those who commit it. Every morning, 
make a sincere and firm resolution not to curse or blaspheme that 
day. Impose upon yourselves some penance every time you have 
the misfortune to fall into these crimes : for example, instantly beg 
pardon of God, give some alms to the poor, recite some prayer, 
practice some mortification. Beg of God every day to grant you 
the grace to make a holy use of your tongue, and say to him : Lord, 
may my tongue cleave to my mouth, rather than that I should make 
use of it to offend Thee, to insult Thy holy name ! Thou hast given 
it to me to glorify Thee, and may I never employ it but for this 



end, so that liaving blessed Thy adorable name, and sung Thy 
praises on earth, I may have the happiness to see, to praise and to 
bless Thee for ever in heaven. — Amen. 



SERMON XLV. 

THIRD COMMANDMENT. 

SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY, 



" Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day." — Exodus, xx : 8. 

The Church of Jesus Christ, instructed and guided in all she does 
by the Holy Ghost, for good reasons has judged it proper to conse- 
crate to God the first day of the week, which we call Sunday, or 
the Lord's day, instead of the Sabbath, or last day of the week, 
which the old law appointed to be sanctified. It was on Sunday 
that God commenced to create the world ; it was on Sunday that 
Jesus Christ came forth glorious from the tomb, and opened for us 
the way to eternal life by his resurrection ; it was on Sunday that 
the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles, and on Sunday that 
they began to preach the Gospel. Such, my Brethren, are the great 
mysteries which took place on the first day of the week. To pre- 
serve the memory of them, the Apostles transferred to Sunday the 
observance of the Jewish Sabbath, and appointed the first day of 
the week to be the day of rest. We ought then to spend this day 
piously, in a way pleasing to God, abstaining from every thing for- 
bidden by Him, and executing every thing which He prescribes. 
To-day then, I will speak to you on what we are forbidden to do 
on the Sunday. 

What does the Third Commandment of God forbid ? ** Remem- 
ber that thou keep holy the Sabbath day." On Sundays and festi- 
vals of precept, we ought to abstain from all servile works. Not 
that these works are bad in themselves, or unworthy of Christians, 



224 SHORT SERMONS. 

but they prevent us from applying ourselves to the worship of God, 
and from those works of piety, in which these days ought to be 
wholly employed. But what is meant by servile works? By 
servile works, we mean all exercise of the functions of any trade 
or business wherein the body works more than the mind, whether 
with a view to salary and payment, or only for pleasure, without 
intending to derive any emolument from them, as a man might do 
who would employ his time in slight mechanical works, merely 
for his own amusement. These things can not be lawfully done on 
Sundays and holy days of obligation, because they require external 
labor, wherein the body works more than the mind. 

Nevertheless, my Brethren, God, full of goodness for his children, 
and compassionating their wants, permits them to work on Sundays 
when they are urged thereto by piety or charity, or when they are 
obliged to do so through necessity. Public necessity authorizes 
labor on holy days : this necessity excuses mail carriers, messengers, 
sailors, and all others employed in the public service. The urgent 
necessity of your neighbor is a legitimate cause for laboring on holy 
days : thus, you can contribute on Sundays to save your neighbor's 
property if it is in danger of destruction ; you can go to the assistance 
of the sick and the poor. Sometimes also, your own necessity will 
render it lawful for you to labor on the Lord's day ; but to avoid 
sin herein, these conditions are required : first, that the necessity be 
a real, urgent, and admitted by persons of prudence and judgment : 
secondly, that you obtain permission from your ecclesiastical su- 
perior ; for it belongs to ecclesiastical superiors to govern the people 
in all spiritual things, and consequently it is for them to judge 
whether the necessity be then true, legitimate, and sufficient to 
dispense with the obligation of the precept. You must, not how- 
ever forget that when you are permitted to work on those days, you 
are not hereby dispensed from hearing Mass, or from attending to the 
other exercises of piety, which it is in your power to practice. It 
is our bounden duty to sanctify the Sunday: to reconcile this duty 
with your occupations, if you are compelled by necessity to work, 
convert your work into a means of sanctifying this holy day ; more 
frequently recall to mind the presence of God ; offer Him your 
trouble and fatigue, and accept them in the spirit of penance ; work 
no more than is absolutely necessary, and so dispose of the rest of 



225 

the day that you may employ it in religious exercises and pious 
works, so that your conscience will Lear you this testimony, that 
you have done all that was in your power to fulfill the command- 
ment of God. 

But, my Brethren, beware that cupidity and an immoderate 
desire of acquiring money do not induce you to regard as neces- 
sary, works which are neither lawful nor excusable, and which 
may easily be deferred to another day. Do not suppose that 
you will derive any real profit from servile works, which, under- 
taken without necessity, desecrate the Lord's day ; such as these 
never will profit you ; God does not bless them ; on the con- 
trary, you must expect from Him to be chastised for them, since 
by thus dishonoring your religion, you give occasion for the sneers 
and impieties of the blasphemer. How can you suppose that 
the Lord will bless works which He prohibits and condemns? 
Should you not rather believe that He will curse them, and cause 
to melt in your hands the sinful profits which you derived from 
them. But you tell me that you do prosper : you are then much 
more to be pitied, for the Almighty is preparing for you punish- 
ments infinitely more terrible in the world to come. These trans- 
gressions will not remain unpunished ; ** His wrath shall come on a 
sudden, and in the time of vengeance He will destroy thee."* ** The 
day of reckoning will surely come, and unless you do penance, you 
shall perish." O man! child of God! Work during six days, 
as your heavenly Father hath done, with the same holiness, and 
like Him rest on the seventh. The six days of labor are the image 
of your life, the seventh day is the image of your eternity : here 
pain, there rest ; here momentary trouble, there eternal repose. Ah ! 
surely the least we can do, is to employ exclusively one day of the 
week in the great, the only important affair for which we came into 
this world ! What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world 
and lose his own soul ? Think well on it, my Brethren. **If God 
has ordered Christians," says St. Augustine, "to rest on Sundays, 
and to leave off their temporal affairs on this holy day, that they 
may devote themselves to Him, and more easily apply themselves 
to divine things, according to these words : ' take time and consider 

» Ecclesiasticus, v : 9. 



226 SHORT SERMONS. 

that I am God ;' they who labor and occupy themselves in works 
which God forbids, desj^ising His exhortation, have great reason 
to fear that He should say to them : ' I know thee not,' and that they 
will be rejected by him, because they neglected to seek Him when 
they had it in their power to do so." "Blessed is the man," says 
the prophet Isaias, "that doeth this; that keepeth the Sabbath 
from profaning it, that keepeth his hands from doing any evil."* 

There are two kinds of servile works from which we ought to 
abstain. Some are innocent or indifferent, and others are criminal. 
The former are bodily works, and the exercise of toilsome and 
laborious trades whose only end is temporal gain ; the latter are 
sins, and all such actions as are hardly ever done without sin : these 
are truly servile works, for he who commits them, becomes the slave 
of sin ; these are truly servile works, and their twofold wages are 
death and hell. If Christians offend God by laboring at corporal 
works without necessity, on Sundays or holy days, they become 
still more guilty when they spend these days in sin ; not that it is 
allowed to sin on other days, but because sin is especially opposed to 
the sanctification of the Sunday. Man is, in truth, much more 
particularly bound to honor and adore the Lord on Sundays 
than on week days. Yet what has been established by God to 
nourish piety, says Tertullian, becomes an occasion of sin, and the 
Lord's day becomes the devil's day, by the sins wherewith it is 
profaned. In country places, where the Almighty unceasingly 
furnishes proofs of His almighty power and goodness, men spend 
the week days in comparative innocence ; but, alas ! the Sunday is 
too often given over to crime and debauchery. What other day are 
drinking saloons more frequented ? on what other day are greater 
excesses committed? What day of the week is there more evil 
speaking, more calumnies, quarrels and blasphemies ? What other 
day do people abandon themselves more to impurity, lascivious 
dances, wicked plays, immodest discourses and songs, and other 
things which I would not dare to mention. "Alas!" exclaims St. 
Augustine, "it would be better for us were there no Sundays, and 
that every day were working days, than to see the Sundays so awfully 
prostituted to sin, to see Christians on those holy days give them- 

* Isaias, Ivi : 2. 



SANCTIFIOATION OF THE LORd's DAY. 227 

selves up, body and soul, to every species of libertinism and 
licentiousness." Oh! how great must be the guilt of those who 
abandon themselves to sin on the very days which they ought to 
devote entirely to God ; which they ought to spend wholly in His 
worship, in thanksgiving for His benefits, and in advancing their 
sanctification and salvation ! 

My Brethren, let us take the firm resolution to-day, henceforth to 
spend the Sundays as God commands and our salvation requires. 
Let us resolve, not only to abstain during these holy days from every 
servile, every forbidden work, but above all, from sin and from 
every thing that may lead us to sin. Yes, let us take this good reso- 
lution, so that the Sundays, which God requires us to make days 
of salvation, may not become for us days of perdition. No doubt, 
all amusement is not prohibited on this day, but only such amuse- 
ment is allowed as will not injure innocence, — moderate amusement, 
taken with restraint. We should never forget that Sundays are not 
days of pleasure, destined to be employed in profane and dangerous 
pastimes, but days consecrated to the pure and holy joy of the 
children of God ; that he who commits sin on these days, makes 
them feasts of the devil and not feasts of Jesus Christ. Adopt the 
salutary custom of often thinking of God, of your soul, of eternity 
and salvation ; you will soon find that, when Sunday comes, your 
hearts will be naturally inclined to religious exercises ; they will 
become easy to you; you will delight to assist at all the public 
devotions in your church, at high Mass, Vespers, and the different 
instructions given on that day. They will be to you a source of 
happiness and of consolation, such as true Christian souls experi- 
ence ; those real consolations which far surpass the false joys of this 
world. And thus having faithfully served your Lord on earth, and 
kept holy the day of rest, you will one day enter into the eternal 
rest which He has prepared for you in heaven. — Amen. 



228 SHORT SEEMONS. 

SERMON XLVI. 

THIED COMMANDMENT.— (Continued.) 

SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 
(Continued.) 



" Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day." — ^Exodus, xx : 8. 

The third precept of the Decalogue forbids us to perform on 
Sundays servile or corporal works, that is, works in the performance 
of which the body has a greater share than the mind, and which 
tend directly to the advantage of the body. But to sanctify the 
Sunday, is it enough to obstain from all labor ? No ; for this holy 
day ought not to be a time of fruitless rest like that of the tomb, the 
body ought to rest only to increase the activity of the soul. What 
then must we do to satisfy this precept? '* Remember that thou 
keep holy the Sabbath day." The answer to this question will 
furnish the matter for the present instruction. 

The rest of the Sunday is a holy rest. It was established to 
recall to our minds the repose of God after the work of creation 
was accomplished, the repose of Jesus Christ after His resurrection 
and entrance into His glory, and the eternal repose which we all 
one day hope to enjoy in the kingdom of heaven. You can realize 
these views only by employing the quiet repose of the Sunday 
in the service of God. The Sunday belongs to God : every thing 
then on this day should be holy and religious. It should be devoted 
to works of piety which would attach us to God, and draw tighter 
the links which bind us to our heavenly Father. We see this 
admirably exemplified in the lives of the primitive Christians, our 
best models in the practice of duty. 

On Sundays they arose from their beds at midnight, and went to 
the place consecrated to the Lord, to chant therein His psalms and 
canticles. After the midnight office some retired to give a little 



SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORd's DAY. 229 

repose to their limbs, still fatigued from the labors of the week, 
while others remained in the house of God and prayed or sang the 
divine praises, or devoted themselves to deep and holy meditation 
until the hour for the morning office. Then the fathers and mothers 
accompanied by their servants and children, came in crowds to the 
church. With holy eagerness to hear the word of God, they 
pressed round the sacred pulpit, and received with joy and delight 
the wise counsels imparted to them by the minister of Jesus Christ. 
With what fervor they prayed, with what recollection they adored, 
and how humbly they supplicated the Lord, while the bishop offered 
to God the adorable victim ! All partook of the immaculate Lamb, 
immolated for the sins of men ; all received into their hearts this 
heavenly food, — the body and blood of Jesus. The time which 
passed between the morning and the evening office, they devoted to 
pious reading, or they went around visiting the sick and pouring 
the balm of consolation into the souls of their afflicted brethren. 
Such, my Brethren, was the manner in which the first Christians 
spent the Sundays. Oh ! let us have the courage to imitate them, 
and let us on the Lord's day, like them, relish not the things of 
earth but those of heaven. Did not the Spirit of God address us as 
well as them, when He said : ** Observe the day of the Sabbath, to 
sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee."* 

Yes, we ought to sanctify the Lord's day, and spend it in the 
performance of works of piety and religion. Convinced of the 
existence of this important obligation, the Church comes to us and 
points out for us the path we must follow. She tells us the works 
we have to perform, and the practices we should adopt ; on Sundays 
and holy days, she multiplies the means of salvation, and in a 
manner compels us to make use of them. She summons us to the 
house of God, and commands us, under pain of mortal sin, to assist 
at the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Blessed be the Church which 
imposed upon us this commandment ! Never did she show herself 
in our regard more vigilant, more tender, more maternal. For 
the Mass being the holiest act of religion, is therefore the best and 
most proper means we have of honoring God, and drawing down 
upon ourselves His blessings and graces. 

* Deuteronomy, v : 12. 



230 SHORT SERMONS. 

What shall I say to you, my Brethren, of this august sacrifice ? 
Let it be sufficient for us to know that the Mass is the continuation 
of the sacrifice of the cross. It is the same priest who offers and 
the same victim which is offered in it. The Mass is therefore the 
holiest, most divine and most grateful work that can he ofiered to 
God ; the one which can most effectually disarm His divine ven- 
geance, procure the most abundant graces for us poor sinners, and 
obtain the greatest relief for the souls of our suffering brethren 
in purgatory ; while at the same time it is the fittest testimony of 
our gratitude to Grod for the blessings He has condescended to bestow 
on us. Yes, the Mass, being the sacrifice of the cross renewed in 
an unbloody manner, is of infinite value in the sight of God. 

But to profit by the holy and abundant efficacy of this great 
sacrifice, you must assist at Mass with respect, attention and 
devotion, as I shall explain to you more at length when I come to 
speak of the precepts of the Church. To sanctify your souls on 
Sundays, you should be present from the beginning to the end of 
the sacrifice. You are dispensed from this obligation only in case 
of physical impossibility, as for instance, if you be sick ; or in case 
of moral impossibility; for example, if a serious loss, or great 
spiritual or temporal inconvenience would thereby result to yourself 
or others. 

On the Lord's day, you ought to labor for the sanctification of 
your souls by being careful to hear the word of God. God wishes 
you to do so, and the Church commands it. The Church obliges 
her ministers to explain to you the divine word, and enjoins upon 
you to hear it, because it is this word which converts souls and 
conducts them to God. This divine word is necessary for all, great 
and small, rich and poor, young and old, learned and unlearned. 
It is necessary for you, that you may be instructed in the doctrine 
of God, — -and more especially for such as are ignorant of the truths 
of eternal salvation. And alas ! how many there are even of those 
advanced in years, nay even among the wise ones of the day, who 
do not know the first rudiments of religion ! They can not be 
saved if they voluntarily remain in this culpable ignorance; let 
them therefore hear the word of God, — it is necessary for them. It 
is also necessary for those who are instructed, to hear it continually, 
lest they forget it. It is, in a word, necessary for us all, for it 



SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORd's DAY. 231 

excites and animates us in the practice of good works, supports and 
strengthens us in the ways of the commandments, renders vice 
odious to us, and leads us to avoid sin as the greatest of evils. We 
should delight to hear the word of God, for Jesus Christ has said : 
" He that is of God, heareth the words of God ;"* and you are 
not of God, if you dislike sermons, if you avoid them, or listen 
to them only with reluctance. The true Christian loves and seeks 
after the word of God ; he esteems it as the food of his soul ; he 
knows that his divine Saviour has said : " Man liveth not by bread 
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."f 
But you must not imagine that you have done enough to keep 
the day holy and sanctify your souls, when you assist at Mass and 
hear the sermon : no, all that does not occupy more than an hour of 
the day, while we are to keep the entire day holy. Obedient then to 
the voice of the Church, come also to Vespers, to hear the praises of 
God sung, and to implore anew the blessing of this God of good- 
ness. But when Vespers are over there are yet many hours at your 
disposal ; how ought you to employ them ? Fathers and mothers, 
the Lord answers you : "Teach your children" the laws of God, 
"that they may meditate on them, when thou sittest in thy house, 
and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou liest down, 
and risest up. "J Introduce into your families the pious custom of 
reading some good books on Sundays, you can not spend your time 
more usefully : for the reading of good books will excite pious 
thoughts in your soul, and inspire your hearts with good resolutions, 
which will powerfully contribute to your salvation. Make on every 
Sunday a short review of the week ; examine the faults which you 
have committed; hate and detest them; form the resolution of 
shunning them and of leading a more Christian life ; beg the assist- 
ance of God to do so. To merit this grace, if you know of any 
sick persons in your neighborhood, visit and console them ; or if 
you know of any poor old men or women needing your assistance, 
relieve and encourage them. "Religion, pure and unspotted with 
God and the Father is this," says the Apostle St. James, "To 
visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation, and to keep 
one's self undefiled from this world."§ It is not in your power, like 

• St John, viii : 47. t St. Matt., iv : 4. t Deut., xii : 19. § St. James, i : 27. 



232 SHORT SERMONS. 

your divine Lord, to cure all their evils, but it is precious in the 
sight of God, and profitable to your own souls to console them, to 
fortify them, and excite them to that holy patience ** which worketh 
salvation." 

After that you may permit yourselves some relaxation, for all 
amusement is not forbidden on the Lord's day. But still be mind- 
ful of the presence of God : keep yourselves all the time within the 
bounds of modesty and temperance : avoid all assemblies and per- 
sons dangerous to your souls, remembering that Sunday is a day 
consecrated to the pure and holy joy of the children of God, and 
not to sinful pleasures and dangerous amusements ; remembering 
also that this day, being sanctified according to the divine will and 
the rules laid down by the Church, will contribute to your salvation, 
and conduct you to heaven. — Amen. 



SERMON XLYII. 

FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 

DUTIES OF CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS. 



** Honor thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long-lived upon the 
land which the Lord thy God will give thee." — ^Exodus, xx : 12. 

We have duties to fulfill to God and duties to our neighbor. The 
three commandments which we have already explained, regulate all 
our duties and obligations to God : hence they were written on the 
first table of the Decalogue. The precepts which the hand of God en- 
graved upon the second table, have for their object our duties toward 
our neighbor. Our first and principal neighbors, my Brethren, are 
our fathers and mothers : it was for this reason that the Lord wished 
that the first precept of the second table of His law should be that 
which pointed out to children the duties they had to fulfill toward 
their parents. It is of these important obligations that I intend to 
speak to you to-day. 



DUTIES OF CHILDREN. 233 

"Honor tliy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long- 
lived.** Such, my Brethren, is the Fourth Commandment of the 
law of the Lord. By this precept, God imposes upon you four 
principal duties with regard to your fathers and mothers. He 
requires that you should respect them, love them, obey them, and 
assist them in their wants. My Children, your first duty to your 
parents is to respect them. Hear what the Lord says : " Cursed be 
he that honoreth not his father and mother ; and the people shall 
say : Amen.* Let every one fear his father, and his mother. •(• He 
that curseth his father and mother, his lamp shall be put out in the 
midst of darkness. The inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning, 
in the end shall be without a blessing.** J 

Why, my Children, do you owe this profound respect to your 
parents ? Because your fathers and mothers, although mortal 
beings, are in your regard the image of God himself, the image of 
His majesty, His authority, His power. His goodness; and are 
therefore to be looked upon by you as sacred objects. They are 
the image of the almighty power that created heaven and earth : 
for in reality, it is to your parents, after God, that you owe your 
life. They are the image of the providence and goodness of God ; 
for it is your pj^rents who nourished, reared, protected, supported 
and guided you ; — they hold in your regard the place of God in 
every thing which concerns your destiny, your happiness, both in 
this life and in the life to come ; for you they labor and toil, for you 
they spend so many anxious moments, for you they undergo so 
many fatigues and cares, and day and night spend themselves for 
your advantage. Hence it was said to Tobias : " Hear, my son, the 
words of my mouth, when God shall take my soul, thou shalt bury 
my body ; and thou shalt honor thy mother all the days of her life. 
For thou must be mindful what and how great perils she suffered 
for thee in her womb.*'§ 

Children, you should respect and honor your father and mother, 
in mind and heart, that is to say, your respect must be interior. It 
ought also to be exterior, manifesting itself by your actions, your 
words, and by your humble, obedient and submissive conduct. 
Hear with deference, and humbly submit to the advice of your 



» Deut, xxvii : 16. t Levit., xix: 3. t Prov., xx : 20. § Tobias, iv : 2, 3, 4. 
20 



234 SHORT SERMONS. 

parents, and receive tHeir reprimands as you would receive them 
from the mouth of God himself. You become very guilty in the 
sight of God when you make little of their remarks or reproofs, 
and show your contempt of them by pert, harsh, insolent and 
unbecoming words, by violent and hasty gestures, by sullen silence, 
by grumbling, and above all, by speaking ill of them, and revealing 
their faults and defects. " Glory not," says the sacred writer, "in 
the dishonor of thy father : for his shame is no glory to thee."* 
Hear how the Lord himself threatens disobedient children: **The 
eye that mocketh at his father, and that despiseth the labor of his 
mother in bearing him, let the ravens of the brooks pick it out, and 
the young eagles eat it.f He that curseth his father or mother, 
dying let him die. J;" 

My Children, respect your father and mother, no matter what 
may be their age, their social position or their infirmities. Never 
forget the advice given you by the Holy Ghost : My son, receive 
with reverence your father in his old age, and sadden not his 
heart when he becomes old. If his strength is weak, support 
him. Be careful that you do not despise his weakness, and boast 
of your own strength, for in no very long time will you too grow 
old and feeble. Do not scorn your father on account of the 
advantage you possess over him. God will reward you for having 
upheld the tottering steps of your mother when pressed Sown by 
years, of that mother who formerly supported the weakness of your 
childhood. And you, my Children, who have suddenly passed from 
indigence to wealth, take care that you do not blush at the poverty 
of your parents. You are in the possession of a fortune, but your 
parents are poor. Will you then despise them ? Remember thy 
father and thy mother, when thou sittest among great men, and 
do not forget the persons who brought thee into the world, lest God 
forget thee in their sight. A little gold and silver, a little shining 
dust, acquired perhaps by injustice and bad faith, ought not to puff 
up your spirit, and make you contemn your poor but virtuous 
parents : your parents are always your parents, and you are always 
their flesh and blood. You should much rather imitate the example 
of Joseph. God had raised him to the greatest honors, and Pharao 

* Ecclesiasticus, iii : 12. t Proverbs, xxx : 17. X Leviticus, xx : 9. 



DUTIES OF CHILDREN. 235 

had invested him with sovereign power over all Egypt ; yet Joseph 
received his father Jacob with the greatest marks of respect and 
honor. Alas ! how many proud and silly children will this beauti- 
ful example one day condemn before God ! In very truth, how 
many children there are, who treat their parents with scorn and 
contempt, who mock, sneer and jest at them, and dare to speak 
to them with disdain, with haughtiness and arrogance ! How 
many who even injure and insult them ! They who ought to be 
respected, — who ought to command in their houses, are now-a-days 
the very persons who must not presume to offer a word of counsel 
or reproof, for they will not be heard or regarded ! They tremble 
in presence of those who should tremble before them ! A disorder 
equally repugnant to reason, to justice, to nature and to religion. 
Ah ! my children, be very cautious that you never act thus toward 
the authors of your being; for if you do, the curse of God will 
sooner or later overtake you. Obey the law of the Lord, be filled 
with a holy respect and veneration for your parents, love them, and 
God will love you. 

The Lord God commands us to love one another: "love one 
another,'* says He, *'this is my commandment, that you love one 
another, as I have loved you." And this obligation He extends 
even to the persons of our enemies ; He commands us to love even 
those who hate and persecute us. Far more then should we love 
our fathers and our mothers, who are much nearer and dearer to 
ns than the rest of mankind. After God and His holy law, it is 
your father and mother whom you ought to love the most ; such is 
the dictate of religion, — such also is the voice of gratitude. 

At the risk of repetition, I can not resist the pleasure of recall- 
ing to your minds those beautiful words of the Holy Ghost and of 
St. Ambrose: ** my son, what do you not owe to your mother, 
who has given you birth ? She carried you in her womb, amid a 
thousand dangers, in weariness, weakness, sickness, and through 
the perilous risks of a painful pregnancy. When her time was 
accomplished she brought forth the fruit of her womb, only through 
excessive pain and at the peril of her life. When she held in 
her arms the object of her desires, she was free indeed from the 
pains of childbirth, but she was not exempt from the mother's 
fears. How many cares, how many painful and disagreeable 



236 SHORT SERMONS. 

services, how many 2:>rivations, how many sacrifices of her own 
convenience, how many anxious watchings had she not still to 
endure ! How many fond caresses did she not lavish on you, how 
eager was she at all times to promote your happiness ! After all 
this, what are you, and what must be thought of you, if you do 
not love your mother?" 

And your industrious father, — see how he concerns himself, — 
exerts himself, and toils for you. Daily does he water the earth 
with the sweat of his brow, or expose himself to all the inclemency 
of the season. He goes forth from his home, — he returns to it, — 
he is always in action : he fears no trouble, — ^no suffering, — no 
danger : he exhausts, wears himself out : and for whom ? for you, — 
to procure your happiness, — to enable you to live in ease and comfort 
on the substance he will have amassed. If after all this, you love 
not your father, what opinion should be formed of you? There 
never was a nation which did not regard as a monster the child that 
is wanting in love to its parents. 

Lov^ your father and your mother, and love them dearly. As 
long as your love for your parents is not contrary, nor superior, nor 
equal to that which you should have for God, — it can not be too 
tender, — too affectionate. Your whole heart and soul ought to be 
on fire with love toward them. Every thing in you should be 
characterized by this love : it should make your manners amiable, 
your air gracious, your words kind, your actions affectionate, your 
endurance of their defects patient, your good wishes ardent, and 
your prayers fervent : such ought always to be your conduct toward 
your father and your mother. At the same time, I must tell you, 
my dear Children, that to make it Christian, — agreeable to God 
and profitable to your own souls, — the love you bear your parents 
should be animated by a supernatural principle ; — that is, you ought 
to love them for God, and because God commands you to do so. 

Here then are the two first duties which children have to fulfill 
toward their parents. They must love and they must respect them. 
In our next instruction, we will speak of the obedience and assist- 
ance they owe them, both in their necessities during life and when 
their eyes will be closed in death. 

My dear Children, who among you does not desire that the Lord 
would open His beneficent hand and shower down upon you His 



DUTIES OF CniLDREN. 237 

graces and blessings ? You render yourselves most agreeable to the 
Almighty, — most deserving of His favors, if, after the example of 
Jesus and his saints, you honor, respect and love your good parents. 
This is the first commandment to the observance of which the 
Lord has attached a special recompense. This recompense, dear 
Children, is a long and happy life, — a life replete with blessings. 
" The child that has been the joy of his mother and the consolation 
of his father, will be loaded with graces and blessings." Dear Chil- 
dren, merit by your conduct, that your father and mother should 
bless you, for a father's blessing is the source of much temporal 
happiness, and the forerunner of that eternal benediction which 
God has in store for good children in the unfading kingdom of 
His glory. — Amen. 



SERMOiN XLVIII. 

FOURTH COMMANDMENT.— (Continued.) 

DUTIES OF CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS. 
(Continued.) 



"Honor thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long-lived upon the 
land which the Lord thy God will give thee." — Exodus, xx : 12. 

In my last instruction, I spoke to you of the two first obligations 
of children to their parents, namely, respect and love. My Children, 
to accomplish the law of God, you must honor your father and 
mother, for they are in your regard the image of God, the image 
of His majesty, authority and power. You ought to love them, 
for they are your greatest benefactors, your nearest neighbors, — 
whose love for you is most sincere and most enduring. I must now 
speak to you of two other dlities which you have to fulfill toward 
them, and those are obedience and assistance. 

"My father, I will do whatever you command me," said young 



SHOKT SERMONS. 

Tobias to his father ; for he loved the law of God which commands 
the child to obey his father and his mother. Obedience is so neces- 
sary to children, that it ought in some manner to constitute the 
foundation of their character. The Holy Ghost tells us to avoid 
"men disobedient to parents."* Yes, says St. Peter Chryoslogus, 
avoid them, for they are monsters in nature. Thus we find Almighty 
God formerly commanding the severest punishments to be inflicted 
upon disobedient children. " If a man have a stubborn and unruly 
son, who will not hear the commandments of his father or mother, 
and being corrected, slighteth obedience : They shall take him, and 
bring him to the ancients of his city, and to the gate of judgment, 
and shall say to them : this our son is rebellious and stubborn ; he 
slighteth hearing our admonitions ; he giveth himself to revelling, 
and to debauchery and banquetings : The people of the city shall 
stone him ; and he shall die, that you may take away the evil out 
of the midst of you, and all Israel hearing it may be afraid."! To 
excite yourselves to obedience, my Children, call to mind the words 
of the Holy Ghost: " Hearken to thy father, that begot thee : and 
despise not thy mother when she is old."]; " Children, obey your 
parents in the Lord, for this is just."g ** Children, obey your 
parents in all things ; for this is pleasing to the Lord."|| " Yes," 
says St. Augustine, "duty obliges you to hear them as God him- 
self, since it is God who commands obedience." 

It will also help to excite you to obedience, to set before your 
eyes the examples of the saints. Isaac humbly and unresistingly 
submits to the will of his father, when he desired to bind him and 
sacrifice him to God. Joseph made a long and tedious journey to 
fulfill the dying request of Jacob, and transport his bones to the 
tomb of Abraham and Isaac. But the great example on which you 
should delight to meditate, is that which our Saviour furnishes you, 
in His own adorable person. The divine Word, by whom all 
things were created, — the Son of God, chose to obey, not only His 
heavenly Father, but His own creatures, Mary and Joseph ; for He 
was subject to them ! After this, what child dare disobey his 
parents ? 

* 2 Timothy, iii : 2. f Deuteronomy, xxi : 18, 19, 20. t Proverbs, xxiii : 22. 
§ Ephesians, vi : 1 . |1 Colossians, iii : 20. 



DUTIES OF CHILDREN. 239 

But in what are you obliged to obey your parents ? Your 
obedience must be universal. You ought to be obedient in every 
thing which is commanded you, whether spiritual or temporal. In 
temporal matters : you must work at home or abroad, — now or at 
another time, — not as you wish, or as seems to you good, but accord- 
ing to the will and orders of your father and mother. In spiritual 
inatters, your are still more strictly bound to obey their commands, 
since there is question here of the glory of God and the salvation 
of your souls. Obey them, therefore, when they tell you to avoid 
dangerous occasions, to shun the society of vicious and corrupt 
persons. Obey them, when they forbid you to join in improper 
plays, to frequent ball rooms, ale houses and dances. Obey them, 
when they bid you discharge your duties as Christians, when they 
tell you not to neglect your night and morning prayers, to frequent 
the sacraments, to be diligent in your attendance at Mass, at Ves- 
pers, at instructions, and in the practice of good works. 

Be obedient; this obligation is so great, that you can not be 
excused from mortal sin, if, in grave and important matters, you 
act contrary to the order or express prohibition of your parents. 
"He is cursed of God that angereth his mother."* Let your 
obedience be lively and prompt. As soon as the order is given, 
you should be ready to fulfill it. Never murmur ; to murmur, 
to comply reluctantly or ungraciously, manifests a spirit of dis- 
obedience. Your father or your mother imposes some duty on you: 
it is God who commands ; go willingly, — hasten to obey them. 
Children who compel their parents to frequently repeat their 
commands, sin against obedience, and are the cause of many sins, 
such as impatience, anger, and sometimes even cursing. Finally, 
your obedience should be constant : that is to say, it must extend 
to every place, — to every circumstance, whether the thing com- 
manded be pleasing or displeasing to you, whether it be easy or 
difficult ; to all time, even after your parents' death, when you 
exercise obedience by faithfully fulfilling their last wishes. 

Dear Children, there is only one case in which you are dispensed 
from the obligation of obeying your father and your mother ; it 
is, if they Avere blind and wicked enough to command you to act 

* Ecclesiasticus, iii : 18. 



240 SHOET SERMONS. 

contrary to the law of God and the voice of conscience : for example, 
if they ordered you to labor at unnecessary servile works on 
Sunday ; to attend to business prohibited on this holy day ; to 
commit an act of injustice, of fraud or revenge ; to eat meat on 
Fridays or other days on which it is forbidden. Then, Christian 
Children, remember that the authority of your parents is subordi- 
nate to that of God, — " that it is better to obey God than man.'* 
You may then and you should, resist your father and mother, that you 
may obey God ; but you ought to do so discreetly and respectfully, 
testifying at the same time a sincere disposition to obey them, in 
every thing that is not sinful. Oh ! yes, in every thing that is not 
sinful, obey your fathers and mothers, that the blessing of your 
parents may abide with you, for a parent's blessing always brings 
happiness with it. To merit, this precious blessing, accomplish, 
my Children, and with the utmost care, the last duty which God 
imposes upon you in respect to your fathers and mothers, — assist 
them in all their spiritual or corporal necessities. 

Should we not esteem ourselves happy to be able to restore to our 
parents a part of what we have received from them ? They reared, 
clothed, supported and protected us in our infancy ; let us, in our 
turn, should they be in want, relieve their necessities ; let us provide 
them with food and clothing suited to their condition in life. If 
they be sick let us visit them frequently, let us console them in their 
sufferings, and procure for them medicine and proper nourishment. 
It is in their old age that our parents stand most in need of our help 
and assistance, because they are then no longer in a state to labor 
and gain a livelihood for themselves. It is, therefore, at that time 
that you should redouble your attentions to them, and make greater 
efforts to help them. Nevertheless, how many children are there, 
who, instead of relieving their parents in their wants, and procuring 
for them the help and assistance which affection, gratitude, nature 
and religion demand of them, cruelly and shamefully abandon them 
in their old age, when pressed down by sickness and infirmities ! 
The sacred names of father and mother no longer touch their hearts ; 
they were children as long as they were dependent on their parents 
for support ; now that they have means of their own, they care no 
more for a father and a mother, who have perhaps no other resource 
than what they might naturally have expected from their children. 



DUTIES OF CHILDREN. 241 

What ingratitude ! what cruelty ! Let them know, for it is the 
Holy Ghost who declares it ; " the mother's curse rooteth up the 
foundation : of evil fame is he that forsaketh his father, and he 
is cursed of God that angereth his mother."* HajDpy, on the con- 
trary, thrice happy the child whose father and mother, like the 
mother of young Tobias, can say : my child, thou art the light of 
our eyes, the prop of our old age, and the consolation of our lives ! 
Happy such a child, for God **will one day hear his prayer, and he 
will be like a man who has heaped up a treasure ! " 

If children owe to their fathers and mothers corporal assistance, 
how much more are they bound to procure for them spiritual 
succors, especially in their sickness ! Pray then for your parents. 
According to circumstances warn them of their duties, if you per- 
ceive that they neglect them, but always w^ith respect, with prudence 
and with charity. When they are sick, neglect no means to dispose 
and prepare them for a good and happy death ; you would be 
grievously wanting in your duty, if through your fault they were 
to pass out of life without receiving the last sacraments. Yet how 
many are there who let their fathers and mothers die without send- 
ing for the priest, or who call him when it is too late ! They do 
not wish, they say, to disturb and agitate their parents by speaking 
to them of death ; but their pity is cruel, their tenderness is worse 
than murder, and its sad consequence may perhaps be an eternity 
of torments for their parents and for themselves. Discharge these 
important duties for your parents in the last days of their life, — 
gratitude and religion impose them upon you ; and even when God 
shall have called them to himself, do not forget them, pray for 
them, and get others to pray for the repose of their souls. 

The honor which we owe to our parents, comprehends respect, 
love, obedience, corporal and spiritual assistance. Behold what God 
requires of children for their salvation and for the happiness of their 
families. My dear Children, convinced as you are of these obli- 
gations, perform them well ; nature inspires you to do so, — God 
commands it, — the good examples furnished by the sacred Scriptures 
invites you, and the Holy Ghost assures you, that *' he that honoreth 
his father shall have joy in his own children : and in the day of 



* Ecclesiasticus, iii : 11,18. 
21 



242 SHORT SERMONS. 

his prayer lie shall be heard : he that honoreth his father shall enjoy 
a long life."* You will be filled with graces and blessings, and when 
you yourselves pass out of life, you will go to enjoy the felicity of 
heaven, — the long life of a glorious immortality, which God reserves 
for His elect, and which I wish you all from the bottom of my heart, 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Grhost. 
Amen. 



SERMON XLIX. 

FOURTH COMMANDMENT.— (Continued.) 

DUTIES OF PARENTS. 



"And you, fathers, provoke not your children to anger : but bring them up in 
the discipline and correction of the Lord." — Ephesiaxs, vi : 4. 

We have instructed children in the duties which they have to 
fulfill toward their parents. You, fathers and mothers, have also 
important duties to perform with regard to your children. God 
and the Church command me to make them known to you, and I 
purpose to explain them, with all the care and zeal of which I am 
capable. There are few persons who are not interested in this 
matter, for the greater number of those who hear me are either at 
present bound by the holy bonds of matrimony, or they intend at 
some future day to enter into that responsible state. If they listen 
to me with proper attention, they will learn how to acquit them- 
selves in a holy manner of the duties which God imposes upon 
them toward their children. 

To whom does the child belong ? Undoubtedly to his father and 
mother. Upon whom, then, if not upon them, does the obligation 
devolve of supporting, clothing and caring for him, and of watching 
over his preservation ? Need we any other proof of this, than the 

* Ecclesiasticus, iii : 6, 7. 



DUTIES OF PARENTS. 243 

choice God has made of you, fathers and mothers, to bring those 
children into existence ? Need we any further proof of it than the 
love He has implanted in your hearts for your offspring ? There 
can be no doubt of it, that it is from your hands your children 
must receive their daily bread, and every necessary for their support. 
Earn this bread then, earn it by the sweat of your brow, and by toil 
and labor draw it from the earth as God commands you. You are 
a father ; work then with courage for your children, be deterred by 
neither trouble nor fatigue from amassing means for them ; it is your 
duty, and you must not dispense yourselves from discharging it. 

But when the goodness of God blesses your labor and toil, — 
when fortune smiles on you, and riches are poured into your hands, 
be on your guard that avarice do not enter into your hearts : be 
not much attached to these riches. Do not act like those foolish 
parents, who, to enrich their children, even deprive themselves of the 
necessaries of life. At the same time, you must not risk their 
property by engaging in wild schemes of speculation, or in expen- 
sive lawsuits, — still less should you squander it away in luxury and 
debauchery, like so many unnatural parents, who often spend in one 
day at the tavern or gambling-table more money than they can earn 
in a week. You should not throw away your money, neither are 
you allowed to lay it out uselessly. It is your duty to preserve and 
increase it by wise and prudent economy. Remember that the Holy 
Ghost has said : "If any man have not care of his own, and 
especially of those of his house, he hath denied the faith, and is 
worse than an infidel."* Parents, you are bound to provide for 
your children food, lodging and clothing, and to endeavor to 
acquire for them some property, — some means with which they can 
begin the world ; this is the first duty which you have to fulfill in 
their regard. 

But there is a second and still more essential duty, which God 
imposes upon you. You ought to form their young minds to the 
love and practice of virtue. You must take all possible care to 
impart to them a complete knowledge of the holy and adorable 
truths which the divine religion of Jesus Christ teaches. But, 
perhaps, you have not time to instruct them ; perhaps, you do not 

* 1 Timothy, v : 8. 



244: SHOKT SERMONS. 

possess tlie necessary information to impart this valuable knowledge 
to your children. In that case, behold your duty, fathers and 
mothers, — a sacred duty, which you should never fail to discharge. 
See that your children attend a good school ; see that they go to 
Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation, and that they attend 
Catechism and all the instructions which pastors are bound to give 
to the younger portion of their charge. If you act in this manner, 
your children will receive a sufficient knowledge of religion, — they 
will know both the truths which they must believe and the duties 
which they have to fulfill, — and thus you will have satisfied this 
obligation. 

Above all, comport yourselves in such a manner, that you can 
say to your children what Jesus Christ said to His Apostles: **I 
have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do 
also."* Set them a good example, both in your words and in 
your actions. You owe to your children the example of justice, of 
charity, sobriety, modesty, and fidelity in performing religious duties. 
Ah ! woe to you, if you have failed in furnishing them this example ! 
Woe to you, if you have been to them an object of scandal ! Jesus 
Christ has said to all who scandalize their neighbor, especially chil- 
dren : ** He that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe 
in me, it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about 
his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."f 
"What then will become of fathers and mothers who scandalize their 
children? Let your children, then. Christian parents, see you walking 
in the good way of virtue, and it will not be hard for them to follow 
you. Your conduct will be their guide, — and such as you are, such 
will your children be ; if you are virtuous, they will be virtuous, — 
if you are wicked, wicked too will your children be. It is a very 
true saying, that the fruit falls not far from the tree. Fathers and 
mothers, God requires that you should give good example to your 
children. 

Youth often contracts bad habits. The child can easily be led 
into the practice of telling lies, of swearing, and of evil conver- 
sations. These are bad weeds, which you ought not allow to cast 
their roots in the hearts of your children. If you seek not at once to 

* St. John,xiii: 15. f St. Matthew, xviii : 5. 



DUTIES OF PARENTS. 245 

eradicate them, tlie evil will increase, and very soon you can neither 
check nor destroy them. Imitate herein the conduct of God. He 
is all charity, and yet this God of goodness chastises in this life 
those whom He loves, — He reprehends and corrects them, — He 
makes them expiate their sins, that they may be worthy of the 
heavenly kingdom to which He invites them. " For whom the Lord 
loveth. He chastiseth : and He scourgeth every son whom He 
receiveth."* These chastisements afflict us; but borne with resig- 
nation, they produce in us fruits of peace, of salvation, and merit 
for us the crown of justice. Fathers and mothers, if you love your 
children as our heavenly Father loves us, reprove and correct them 
for their faults. The Holy Ghost tells you : ** He that spareth the 
rod, hateth his son ; but he that loveth him corr^cteth him betimes. "f 
No doubt, however much you temper the chastisement and reproof 
by your kindness, still they will appear hard and bitter to your 
children ; but they will produce in time salutary fruits, and you 
shall have the joy of seeing your children increase in grace and 
wisdom, according as they advance in age. 

In fine, fathers and mothers, the future of your children is in 
your power, — it is your duty to bring them up so that they can 
earn their livelihood, and establish themselves suitably in the world. 
But you must think of this in good time. You should therefore be 
careful to see that while young they learn to read and write, and 
that they acquire all the knowledge which can be of use to them in 
after life. On their leaving school, let your sons become good 
mechanics, or industrious workmen : see to what it is God calls 
them, and make them follow their vocation, and fit themselves for 
whatever art, trade or profession divine Providence may destine 
them. Let the mother instruct her daughter, and teach her the 
duties of housekeeping, how to husband well her time, and follow 
in the management of family affairs, the rules of a wise economy 
and a prudent care. Even before our divine Lord came on earth, 
it was said, and with good reason, that the father who neglected to 
give his son a trade or a profession by which he could earn his 
livelihood, was no better than one who would teach his son to steal. 
What awful responsibilities then rest upon negligent parents ! 

* Hebrews, xii : 6. t Proverbs, xiii : 24. 



246 SHORT SERMONS. 

Fathers and mothers, behold your duties. Do you discharge 
them ? Look at that guilty father ; he knows, without any doubt, 
that his son absents himself from school, that he learns nothing, 
that he is idle and lazy, irreverent and indevout in the house of 
God, that he runs and plays on the streets, and scandalizes other 
children by his bad words and wicked oaths ; he knows that his son 
and his daughter squander his money in useless dress, that they 
absent themselves from his house at night, visit bad company, and 
return at late hours ; he knows all this, and yet remains silent ; or, 
perhaps, will even excuse their conduct, by that expression always 
criminal in the mouth of a father : " We must allow something to 
youth." That criminally imprudent mother is not ignorant that 
her vain, giddy and foolish daughter rashly exposes herself, and 
permits those dangerous and sinful familiarities which are the sure 
forerunners of shame and disgrace ; yet she does not prevent her, 
but will even seek to justify herself by saying : ** We must not be 
too hard on young people.'* Unfortunate mother ! the time will 
surely come, when you will have reason to regret your excessive 
indulgence. 

Others give the most pernicious example to their children. They 
curse and blaspheme in their presence ; they make use of obscene 
words, utter imprecations, lies and calumnies against their neighbor ; 
they give way to drunkenness, steal, and commit the most horrid 
crimes under the very eyes of their own children. 

Parents, avoid these crimes, and do all that lies in your power to 
promote the happiness of your children. If you neglect their 
education, if you abandon them to their passions, they will one day 
bring you to shame and misfortune. Form their hearts then to 
virtue, as the Holy Ghost bids you,* and your pains will not go 
unrewarded, even in this life, for they will be your consolation and 
support here below, — they will be your happiness and delight on 
earth, and in the world to come they will be your glory and your 
crown. — Amen. 

* Proverbs, xxix : 17. 



D U T I E S O F SERVANTS. 247 

SEEM OX I. 

FOURTH COMMANDMENT.— (Continued. ) 

DUTIES OF SERVANTS TO THEIR MASTERS. 



" Servants, obey in all things your masters, according to the flesh." — Colos- 
siANS, iii : 22. 

Servants, it is God ^'ho Ccaused you to be born in that condition, 
in which to earn your living you must serve others ; and it is 
through this humble, obscure way, that He wishes to conduct you 
to His glory. It is then not merely men but God whom you serve, 
and to serve God, is to reign. Yes, you will reign in heaven, if, 
on earth, you perform in a holy manner what God commands you. 
You desire to know the duties and obligations which your state 
imposes upon you, for I have no doubt you are anxious to secure 
your salvation. All your duties to the masters whom Providence 
has placed over you, may be reduced to these two : obedience and 
fidelity. I intend to explain them for you as fully and as simply as 
I can. 

Servants and subjects, learn from the Holj^ Ghost to obey the 
masters whom God has given you: "Servants, obey your carnal 
masters, with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, 
as Christ. Not serving to the eye, as it were pleasing men, but, as 
the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with 
a good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men. Knowing 
that whatsoever good every one shall do, the same shall he receive 
from the Lord, whether he be bond or free."* ** Whosoever are 
servants under the yoke, let them count their masters worthy of 
all honor, lest the name and doctrine of the Lord be blasphemed. 
But they who have believing masters, let them not despise them, 

* Ephe«ians, vi: 5, 6,7, 8. 



:24S SHORT SERMONS. 

because they are brethren ; but serve thein the rather, because they 
are faithful and beloved, who are partakers of the benefit."* Do 
promptly and with docility, without getting into a bad humor, with- 
out murmur or complaint, whatsoever your masters may command, 
for they occupy in your regard the place of God, from whom all 
authority proceeds. In the obedience which you pay to your 
superior, let your intention always be to do the will of your su- 
preme Master, and you will discharge all your duties with the same 
exactness, whether the eyes of your master be on you or not ; you 
will serve him with the same zeal in the simplicity of your heart, 
whether he be good and kind, or of a hard, cross and dissatisfied 
temper, since your only desire is to please God. If you wish to be 
Christian servants, and to render yourselves agreeable to God, do 
not serve solely through the necessity of your condition, but from 
love of your dwij, and be not like those servants who, instead of 
being obedient and humble, are rebellious, insolent and arrogant. 

Servants, obey your masters in the Lord, that is to say, in every 
thing that is not contrary to His holy law, — in things that are just 
and lawful ; but let your obedience go no further. Like the Chris- 
tian soldiers who fought under the banners of the pagan emperors, 
you should distinguish between the commands given you by your 
masters, which are conformable with the laws of God, and those 
which are contrary to them. They made no difficulty to draw the 
sword against the enemies of their country, but when any thing was 
exacted of them which religion condemns, they boldly refused to 
obey, and chose rather to die than displease God, the great Master 
and sovereign Lord of all. 

Christian masters, you should not take offence at what I here 
advance. I do not wish to excite your domestics and servants to 
disobedience, but if you command them to do what is contrary to 
the law of God, I say that your rights to their obedience cease. 
Yes, servants, if you are told to do any thing unlawful, for exam- 
ple, to labor on Sundays, to perform unnecessary servile works on 
festivals of obligation, to violate the laws of abstinence, you ought 
then, without being wanting in the respect which you owe your 
masters, nevertheless refuse to obey them, and to violate the law of 



* Timothy, vi : 1, 2. 



DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 249 

God, for we must obey God rather than man. If a wicked master 
solicit you to sin, refuse, pray and resist with courage ; flee away, 
quit the house, speed from the claws of the vulture that seeks to 
devour you, fly like the chaste Joseph, even though you were to 
leave your cloak, that is, some of your little wealth in the criminal 
hands of him who would render you guilty in the sight of the Lord. 
Sufier every loss rather than the loss of your soul ; and cast your- 
self into the arms of your God, He will take care of you. He will 
never forsake you while you remain His faithful servant. 

To obey your masters in every thing that is just and reasonable, 
is your first duty ; to be constantly faithful to them, is your second. 
You ought, therefore, to be sincerely devoted to their interests, so that 
you never injure them, and that you never permit others to injure 
either them or their children, in their property or reputation, as far 
as it is in your j^ower to prevent them from doing so. Such is the 
faithful and vigilant servant whom the Evangelist commends. 
Such is the fidelity which the law of God and natural justice 
demand of you. 

Servants, be faithful to your masters. Beware then of appro- 
priating to your own use or that of another, of selling or giving 
away the furniture, the food, the utensils, or any thing else belong- 
ing to your master. Remember that you are only the guardians of 
the things which have been intrusted to your care. But, you will 
say, may I not take little articles and give them to the poor ? Be 
as liberal as you please, of your own goods, but you are not allowed 
to be charitable at the expense of others, unless, indeed, you have 
obtained their express permission. But I only take things of liftle 
value, — mere trifles, and my masters are so rich ! By taking those 
little things, you nevertheless commit a real theft; by repetition 
they form an important matter, and then you become guilty of 
mortal sin. Moreover, is it not true, that he who is not faithful in 
small things, will not be faithful in great? Is it not true, that 
henceforth you no longer merit that any one should place confi- 
dence in your honesty ? But, you tell me, I work hard, and my 
wages are small. Your master does you no wrong, since he pays 
you the wages you agreed to take. If your wages are not high 
enough, it is your own fault. You have no one to blame but your- 
self. Ask an increase, or leave the situation ; but as long as you 



250 SHORT SERMONS. 

remain in it, be faithful, and remember that God says to you : let 
servants be obedient to their masters in all things pleasing, not con- 
tradicting, not defrauding, but in all things showing good fidelity.* 

Servants, be faithful to your masters. Endeavor, therefore, to 
procure for them every possible profit; employ your time well, 
perform your work well, labor according to your strength. You 
should permit nothing to be lost through your negligence or care- 
lessness ; you must watch over every thing that has been committed 
to your charge, as if it were your own. 

Discretion constitutes an essential part of the fidelity which you 
owe to your master. You should never talk of what passes in the 
family, which could in the least compromise their honor or their 
reputation, their credit or their peace. If there are defects among 
them, if division reign between the husband and wife, if the children 
stray from their duty, be discreet, and never reveal to others what 
you see. If their family affairs are in disorder, do not divulge the 
fact, for you might thus cause their ruin. Alas ! it often happens 
that servants are only wicked tale-bearers, vile informers, the more 
dangerous as they are the less suspected ; who examine whatever 
is said, done, or takes place in the house, only for the purpose 
of carrying the news to others, along with their own malicious 
comments. Ah ! a day will come when God will severely punish 
you for having blackened the reputation of your masters, of whom 
you should never speak but in respectful terms, and whose faults 
and defects you should carefully conceal. 

Servants, you ought to be faithful to your masters in all things. 
Take great care then of the children whom they confide to your 
keeping. It is the most precious trust they can commit to your 
care. Watch over the life, — watch over the conduct of these dear 
children, for you must answer to God for whatever evil may happen 
to them through your fault. You will have to answ-er before God 
and before the world, for the faults you overlook in them, for the 
vices you do not seek to oppose in them, and which you conceal 
from their parents. But, perhaps, you have even flattered the pas- 
sions, and encouraged the disorders of these children ; perhaps, you 
are yourselves the corrupters of their innocence. If so, woe to you 

« Titus, ii: 9, 10. 



D U T I E S O F S E R V A N T 3 . 251 

because of yonv scandals, — it were better for you that a millstone 
were tied round your neck, and that you were cast into the depth 
of the sea. Well may you dread that the Almighty will discharge 
against you the thunderbolts of His vengeance, and that He will 
one day command the ministers of His divine wrath to bind you 
hand ajid foot, and cast you into exterior darkness, where there 
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.* 

You, I am sure, do not wish to be among the number of these 
vile beings who act as the corrupters of youth. You desire to be 
reckoned among the good and faithful servants, and you discharge 
for your masters the duties that you owe them, — you respect them, 
— you obey them with zeal. Following then the example of the 
good servant spoken of in the gospel, be always ready to do all 
that they require of you, without reply, and without complaint. 
Serve them faithfully. Always defend their interests. Appropri- 
ate to yourself nothing that is theirs, but preserve their property 
with as much care as if it were your own. Defend their honor and 
reputation. Discharge all these duties with the intention of pleas- 
ing God, who is the sovereign Master, and from whose mouth you 
will thus merit one day to hear these most consoling words, " Well 
done, thou good and faithful servant ; because thou hast been faith- 
ful over a few things, I will set thee over many things : enter thou 
into the joy of thy Lord." — Amex. 

* St. Matthew, xxv : 30. 



252 SHORT SERMONS. 

SERMON LI. 

FOURTH COMMANDMENT.— (CoOTiNUED.) 
DUTIES OF MASTERS TO THEIR SERVANTS. 



" Masters, do to your sei*vants that which is just and equal ; knowing that you 
also have a Master in heaven." — Colossians, iv : 1. 

It is a palpable and yet very common error among masters, to 
imagine that they have servants only for the purpose of being 
served by them ; that their servants owe them every thing, and that 
tbey owe nothing to their servants. But this is far from being the 
truth ; in society all duties must be reciprocal : hence, the Apostle 
St. Paul, having said to servants : ** Obey your masters," immedi- 
ately adds, '* and you masters do to your servants that which is just 
and equal." Servants and domestics have many duties to fulfill 
toward their masters, of which I have already spoken ; but masters 
have also obligations toward their servants : and these will form 
the subject matter of our present instruction. 

It is very true, for the Holy Ghost has said it by the mouth of 
the Apostle, '' that all power comes from God ;" but although the 
authority which masters possess comes from God, they ought not 
on that account to let themselves be puffed up by it, and still less 
should they abuse it. These servants are your equals by nature ; 
they are your brothers by religion. This poor domestic was formed 
from the same slime from which you were formed ; you, like him, 
are made of dust and clay. Why then are not you the servant 
instead of him ? God willed it otherwise ; His providence has its 
views in this division of conditions upon earth. Dust and ashes 
then, like this poor creature, you should not be elated with pride, 
and treat him with harshness and contempt. He is your brother in 
religion ; like you, he is the child of God ; like you, he was created 
to the image of God ; like you, he was redeemed at the price of the 
blood of the Son of God ; like you, he was regenerated in the saving 



DUTIES OF MASTERS. 253 

waters of baptism ; and like yon, he is destined by his vocation to 
reign eternally in heaven, where the distinction between master and 
servant will no longer exist. There, perhaps, he will be greater 
than yon ; perhaps his present lowliness will exalt him then, while 
your grandeur will lower you; for God is just, and He has no 
respect of persons.* The poor are as pleasing to Him as the rich. 
There is but one thing that prevails in the sight of God, — and 
that is a good and virtuous life, — the holy and faithful discharge 
of the duties of one's state. Masters and misti-esses, do you 
desire to be great in the sight of the Lord ? Do you desire to be 
pleasing to God even more than your servants and dependents? 
Then acquit yourselves conscientiously of all the duties which 
heaven has imposed upon you; perform well whatever you are 
bound to do for your servants, both for their present and their 
future life, — for their bodies and for their souls. For the present 
life, what do you owe to your servants ? If it is the servant's duty 
to labor with zeal and fidelity for you, it must also be your duty to 
give to your servants good and suitable nourishment, and to pay 
them just and fair wages. Hence, the Holy Spirit has said : "Thou 
shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out thy corn on the floor. "f 
And if then you are bound to care for the dumb beast that works 
for you, with how much more reason are you obliged to maintain 
a man like yourself, who exhausts his strength for your advantage. 
Give him then this necessary maintenance, that he may recruit his 
strength spent in your service. 

Those masters fail in this important duty, who eat and drink the 
best things and live in abundance, while they permit their servants 
to feel the pangs of hunger, dealing out to them spoiled food, and 
even grudging them the little bread which they eat. It was not thus 
that our divine Saviour acted with respect to those who labored 
with Him in His divine mission ; these poor sinners, rude and 
uncultivated though they might be, were never denied a seat at His 
table. 

Masters who overburden their servants with work calculated to 
destroy or weaken their health, are wanting in their duties, and 
become guilty of great injustice. Health and bodily strength are 

* Ephesians, vi : 9. t Deuteronomy, xxv : 4. 



254: SHORT SEKMONS. 

the sole riches of servants ; if, therefore, you place upon their 
shoulders burdens which are too heavy for them to bear, you deprive 
them 01 their means of living ; by wasting their strength, you commit 
an injustice, and become the guilty cause of shortening their days, 
or making them pass their old age in disease, in suffering, and in 
want. You would not overwork your ox or your horse, because 
you fear that you would thereby lose them ; and yet so much has 
cupidity blinded you, and rendered you hard-hearted, that you will 
not exhibit the same consideration toward your fellow-being, made 
as he is to the image and likeness of God. How criminal you 
render yourself in the sight of God ! 

We see people manifest aifection for an old horse or a faithful 
dog, and yet they have no hearts to sympathize with, and provide 
for the wants of their old and infirm servants. It is unquestionably 
an act of cruelty for masters to abandon their sick servants, whom 
they could without trouble have cured in their own houses, and to 
oblige them to spend the last cent of their hard earnings, or be 
forced to retire to the poor house, which is designed only for those who 
have no other resource. This is not following the advice given by 
the Holy Ghost, who says: "If thou have a faithful servant, let 
him be to thee as thy own soul; treat him as a brother."* 

The centurion of the Gospel understood well this obligation, 
which, if not justice, at least charity and gratitude impose upon 
masters. His servant is sick ; and the master is not content with 
keeping him in his own house, with treating him with all possible 
care and kindness, and using every means in his power to cure him ; 
but perceiving that his good servant is about to die, he hastens to 
cast himself at the feet of Jesus, and begs Him to have pity on his 
faithful servant, and restore him to health and strength. 

Here is a beautiful example to follow. Christian masters. Learn 
from it not to drive from your houses your hard-working servants, 
when old age comes on them, or sickness seizes them in your service ; 
treat them kindly, — with charity and with compassion, and in 
recompense you will draw down on yourselves the blessing of our 
good God, — you will be beloved by your attendants, and they will 
delight to serve you with zeal, with fidelity, and with love. These 

* Ecclesiasticus, xxxiii : 31. 



D U T I E 8 O F M A S T E It S . 255 

are yonr duties to your servants, as far as regards the body and the 
present life. Let us see what you owe them in reference to their 
souls and their eternal salvation. 

If you are good masters, you ought to be like fathers to your 
servants and all dependent on you. Who are these poor servants ? 
They are perhaps orphans, reduced to the necessity of seeking in 
you other parents ! If not, it is certain that the poverty of their 
own parents forced them to tear themselves from their natural pro- 
tectors, to earn their bread among strangers. Feeling then for their 
condition, do you fill toward them the place of those dear parents, 
whom they left to enter your service. On this point, your obli- 
gations are the same as those of parents to their children. You 
should take particular care of the salvation of their souls, you 
should instruct them, give them good example, remove them from 
every occasion of sin ; you should reprove them, correct them, and 
see that their conduct be always wise and pious, prudent and Chris- 
tian. According to the Apostle, the master who fails in this duty 
is worse than an infidel. Truly, Christian masters should not be 
content to live themselves in the practice of virtue and piety, they 
should take care to have their servants also pious, virtuous and wise. 
They ought not to be content with serving God punctually and 
fervently, they should also watch over their domestics, and see that 
they assist piously at Mass, that they serve the Lord devoutly, and 
do not violate His holy law. It is not enough that the master and 
mistress pass the Sundays and festivals in a religious. Christian 
manner, that they themselves sanctify the day by hearing the ser- 
mon or reading a good book, — they ought also to be very careful 
that their dependents keep holy the Lord's day and festivals of 
obligation,- that they also hear the word of God and are present at 
the pastoral instruction ; they need it for their sanctification and 
salvation. Masters, these domestics belong to God more than they 
do to you ; let them therefore have time to serve the Lord ; beside, 
you will be in the end the gainer ; for if they serve God faithfully, 
they will not be indolent in your service. 

Masters, be careful to give all under your charge good example. 
Never let them hear you utter a wicked word, or see you commit a 
bad action. You ought also prevent by every means in your power, 
that your servants should say or do any thing displeasing to God. 



256 SHORT SERMONS. 

Weigh well what I have said, and judge how guilty must be those 
masters who take little or no trouble to inquire into the conduct of 
their domestics ; who care not how ignorant they may be, how little 
they may know of their duty to God, — who never inquire if their 
servants attend Mass on Sundays, if they are absent from the house 
at night, if they keep bad company, and receive visits from ill-dis- 
posed, wicked companions. 

How culpable must be the masters, who listen to the evil conver- 
sations of their domestics without saying a word by way of repri- 
mand or correction ! How guilty and imprudent must they be, 
who keep in their service cursers, blasphemers, and immodest 
domestics, who soon will corrupt by their scandalous example the 
most cherished portion of the family, and bring ruin on the souls 
of those dear children, whom you, fathers and mothers, ought to 
love so much ! Alas ! children are but too much inclined to follow 
bad example ! how many of them are every day lost to virtue by 
wicked and corrupt servants ! Masters and mistresses, see that you 
know well your important duties ; if you fail to discharge them, if 
you neglect them, you will receive at the throne of God the most 
indignant reproaches, and perhaps you will be severely punished 
even in this life. God will withdraw from you his graces and 
blessings, and He will permit that your houses, given over to dis- 
order, should fall into decay. Every day furnishes examples in 
abundance of this sad truth. 

On the contrary, do you wish to be blessed by God in time and 
in eternity? Then carefully and zealously discharge the duties 
which He has imposed upon you in regard to your servants ; take 
a cordial interest in the temporal and spiritual welfare of each one 
among them. Give them necessary support ; pay them their wages, 
God commands you to do so. **Thou shalt not do that which is 
unjust ; the wages of him that hath been hired by thee, shall not 
abide with thee until the morning.* Never over-burden them with 
labor : '' Be not as a lion in thy house, terrifying them of thy house- 
hold, and oppressing them that are under thee."f No, treat them 
as neighbors, as Christians, who, like yourselves, have their Father 
in heaven. Be careful of their salvation, — never permit them to 

* Leviticus, xix : 13. f Ecclesiasticus, iv : 35. 



ON MURDER. 257 

commit evil, but with the royal prophet, say: *' I will understand 
and walk in the unspotted way. I walked in the innocence of my 
heart, in the midst of my house. I did not set before my eyes any 
unjust thing. My eyes were upon the faithful of the earth to sit 
with me."* Let your wise counsels, and above all, your good 
example incline them to piety and the fear of the Lord, that all 
together, servants and masters, may do good while on earth ; and 
may deserve to be once more united hereafter in heaven, there to 
enjoy the rich recompense of eternal glory. — Amen. 



SERMOX LII. 

FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 

ON MURDER. 



"Thou shalt not kill." — Exodus, xx : 13. 

Though in this commandment of the Decalogue, Almighty God 
seems to prohibit only murder, yet it is certain that His prohibition 
extends to many other sins. For not only does He condemn the 
unjust killing, striking or wounding of another, but he also forbids 
anger, injuries, insults, and whatever else may lead to the awful 
crime of murder. Moreover, my Brethren, this same precept of the 
Lord prohibits spiritual murder, that is, the sin of scandal, which 
brings death on our neighbor's soul. The explanation of a precept 
so important merits your close attention. 

What is forbidden by the Fifth Commandment? "Thou shalt 
not kill." In the first place, we are forbidden to cause our own 
death, or unnecessarily to injure our health. To kill one's self 
is a crime : our life belongs to God, and we must not attempt to 
take it away ; it is a deposit which Providence has confided to us, 



» Psalms, c : 2, 6. 

22 



258 SHORT SERMONS. 

and whicli we must preserve as long as He thinks proper to leave it 
to us. To kill one's self is a crime, for it is an act of treason ; we 
are placed as sentinels in this world, to guard the interests of Almighty 
God, and we must not quit our post, without the order of the Cap- 
tain who commands us. To kill one's self is a crime, for it is to 
usurp the rights of God. We did not come into the world hy our 
own will, we must not leave it hut hy the command of God, who 
placed us here. He gave us life, that we might serve Him accord- 
ing to the views of His providence ; to Him alone then does it 
helong to say : " It is enough, your work is finished, return to Me." 
The crime of the man who commits suicide is enormous, and so 
much the more dreadful, as hy it he escapes the vengeance of human 
laws. Unfortunate man, — you suffer, and miseries press so heavily 
upon you, that you imagine it would be more to your advantage to 
die than to live longer ; hut, take heed, the Lord forbids you to take 
away your life. And beside, will a death of despair deliver you 
from your evils and torments ? If you die in sin, you plunge your- 
self into eternal evils, for you deprive yourself of time, without 
which you can not do penance. You suffer, — then come to Jesus 
Christ, and He will relieve you of your sorrows ; come and learn 
from our divine Saviour how to comply with the holy will of God ; 
come and draw strength and consolation from the contemplation of 
the truths of faith. This divine faith teaches that God .never 
imposes upon you a burden which you can not bear, He tempers 
the wind to the shorn lamb ; it teaches you that he who cheerfully 
carries his cross, will see these temporal pains succeeded by an 
eternity of happiness, for he will one day be borne by them to 
heaven. 

But, you say to me, may I not at least desire death in my suffer- 
ings ? Is it the love of God, — is it the desire of being sooner 
united to Him in heaven, that moves you to call upon death ? 
And by forming this desire are you wholly and perfectly resigned 
to His holy will ? If so, you do not sin, and you can beg of the 
Lord *'to permit His servant to depart in peace." But no, you 
desire death, and this bad desire has its source in impatience, in 
despair, or in some violent passion which hinders your soul from 
paying the submission that you owe to the sovereign Master of life 
and death. I have no hesitation in tellino: vou that this desire is a 



ON M U K D E R . 259 

sin, that you offend God, and that the grievoiisness of the crime 
which you commit becomes still more enormous, when you allow 
yourselves to utter blasphemies and execrations against God and 
against yourself. 

God forbids you to seek after death ; beside, He prohibits what- 
ever might bring about your death or cause a notable injury to your 
health. Alas ! these transgressions are but too frequent ! It is no 
uncommon thing to see people unnecessarily exposing their lives to 
danger. You are of this number, my young friends, when you play 
at dangerous games to show off your dexterity or your strength. 
You are of this number who give way to anger, to lust, to gluttony, 
to debauchery, to drunkenness, and who by these infamous passions, 
shorten your lives. You also are of this number, who are so avari- 
cious that you refuse yourselves the medical attendance and remedies 
which your health demands, or who deprive yourselves of the neces- 
saries of life. How many people there are, who, in their sickness 
have recourse to particular and dangerous remedies ! All these act 
contrary to the commandment of the Lord, and violate the fifth 
precept of the Decalogue : ** Thou shalt not kill." 

In the second place, the law of God forbids us to attempt the 
life of our neighbor. To kill our neighbor is an enormous crime, — 
a crime which cries to heaven for vengeance. The murderer takes 
away from his fellow-creature his life, which is the greatest of all 
temporal blessings ; he has the audacity to kill a man, for whom 
God created every thing ; and, consequently, he destroys, as far as 
it is in his power, all the works of the Creator; he attempts, in 
some measure, to destroy God himself, since the man Avhom he 
murders is the image of God. Hence, the Lord holds this crime in 
especial horror, and required that he who would dare to shed human 
blood, should be exterminated from the midst of His people ! It is 
an awful crime, and the Evangelist St. John tells us, that murderers 
shall suffer eternal torments in the fires of hell. And yet, who 
would believe it ? This horrid crime is not only committed by 
cruel, savage men, — sad slaves of avarice, of lust, but even by 
women. Too often, having had the misfortune to yield to a shame- 
ful passion, to conceal their first crime, they commit another still 
more abominable and frightful. Oh ! how detestable those souls 
appear in the sight of God, — mothers indeed, but mothers unworthy 



260 SHORT SERMONS. 

of that endearing name, whose barbarous hands have robbed of life, 
even in its origin, their own offspring, and inflicted on them a two- 
fold death, by preventing their entrance into this world, — and by 
depriving them of all hope of life everlasting in the world to come. 
Their innocent blood will cry out against such mothers, and demand 
vengeance on them from heaven. It will pursue them through life, 
and follow them even to the abyss of hell. 

You are guilty of this same crime, ye brutal husbands, who, 
regardless of the state in which your wives are, force them to carry 
heavy burdens, to overwork themselves ; who excite them to anger, 
and do not even fear to strike and abuse them. Your children 
come into the world, — they are dead, — and you are the cause of 
their death, — you are their murderers ! You also are guilty of 
murder, — you who fear not to exact of your children a labor which, 
being above their strength, undermines and destroys their constitu- 
tion ; you who chastise them beyond measure, who torment them, 
and provoke them to dangerous and violent fits of anger. They 
die, and you are the cause of their untimely death. God will 
demand an account of their blood from you. Fathers and mothers, 
nurses and servants, are also guilty of homicide, who sleep with 
newly born infants, and smother them in their sleep. This is, alas, 
no imaginary case ; it is but too common. And even though this 
accident were not to occur, those imprudent persons are criminal in 
the sight of God, for exposing themselves to so great a danger, and 
for having violated a law of the Church, which threatens those 
unnatural parents with the most terrible of its penalties, — that of 
excommunication. 

In fine, my Brethren, the Fifth Commandment prohibits not only 
murder, but also every desire of committing it ; it forbids all those 
thoughts, — those criminal gratifications, — those wicked desires 
which revenge, ambition and self-interest inspire. Be on your guard 
then against anger, hatred and desires of vengeance. God wishes 
that you should remove far from your minds, every thing which 
might inspire you with the desire of this awful crime of murder. 
The Apostle St. John assures us, that he who hates his brother is a 
murderer. He is already a murderer before God, for he has the 
inclination, and harbors in his heart the disposition to bring about 
his fellow -creature's death. Are we not dailv witnesses of the truth 



ON MURDER. 201 

of this assertion? How often have inveterate hatreds ended in 
homicide and murder? Far from allowing us to hate our brethren, 
our divine Saviour commands us to love them even when they 
wish us evil. He desires that we should do good to those who hate 
us ; that we should not cease to pray for those who persecute us ; 
He desires us to forget the injuries we have received, and that charity 
for our brethren should never be extinguished in our hearts. Ah ! 
if we had this divine charity, — this charity which is gentle, meek, 
gracious, beneficent ; which supports all things, pardons all offences, 
what happiness would we not all experience ? What a loving peace 
would reign over the whole earth ! What beautiful order, harmony 
and union would exist between all the children of our heavenly 
Father ! Then there would be no hatred, no envy, no anger, and 
no revenge; our passions would be subdued, and we would no 
longer hear of bad desires, evil wishes, execrations, imprecations, 
curses, injuries and wrongs ; we would no longer witness disputes, 
quarrels, fights, murders and homicides ; there would be but one 
heart and one soul among us. 

My Brethren, love all men, — they are your brethren, and he that 
loves not his brother abides in death. Never seek to revenge your 
wrongs, for the Holy Ghost would condemn you as usurpers of the 
rights of God, to whom alone belongs all vengeance. He who will 
not forgive, says St. James, the Apostle, he who will not show 
mercy, will be judged without mercy. But on the contrary, our 
Saviour himself assures us, that the charity which we exercise 
toward our brethren, by forgiving them the wrongs they have done 
us, will obtain the pardon of our own sins, and merit for us, on the 
day of judgment, the eternal rewards which God reserves for His 
elect in heaven. — Amen. 



262 SMOKT SSEMONS. 

SERMON LIII. 

FIFTH COMMANDMENT.— (Continued.) 

ON SCANDAL. 



"Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandal 
come : nevertheless, woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh." — St. 
Matthew, xviii : 7. 

It is a great sin to take from oijr neighbor the life of his body, 
but still more fearful is the crime of destroying the life of his soul. 
Nevertheless, sucli is the offence of which they are guilty, who, by 
their Scandals, destroy the kingdom of grace in the hearts of their 
brethren, who cause their neighbors to depart from the paths of 
virtue, who induce them to enter into the ways of sin and vice, and 
lead them to perdition and eternal death. It is highly important 
that we should conceive a horror for the sin of Scandal ; it is there- 
fore my intention to-day to tell you in what this crime consists, to 
show you how grievously it offends God, and with what facility the 
greater part of Christians render themselves guilty of it. 

What is Scandal ? In the language of the Church, Scandal is 
understood to mean whatever may be for our neighbor an occasion 
of sin or spiritual ruin ; and it is defined to be a word, an action 
or an omission, bad in itself or in appearance, and affording to 
others the occasion of falling into sin ; that is. Scandal is an action 
or an omission calculated to induce our neighbor to do the evil 
which he ought to avoid, or to prevent him from doing the good 
which he ought to perform. An example will render this definition 
more clear to your minds. A vicious man, — one Avhose heart is 
corrupt, takes delight in bad thoughts ; when alone, he indulges in 
imchaste songs, and even commits criminal actions. No doubt, he 
offends God, — he is guilty of sin, — of mortal sin ; yet this man 
injures only himself, and no body else suffers from his wickedness ; 
he is guilty of sin, but not of Scandal. But if he communicates 



ON SCANDAL. 263 

his bad thoughts to others ; if in their presence he gives expression 
to these obscene words, — sings these impious or impure songs before 
them, then he sins not only against himself, but he wounds, perhaps 
kills, the soul of his neighbor, for he scandalizes him, since, by his 
bad example, he induces his fellow-creature to do what God forbids. 
And, mark it well, this sin of Scandal is so much the more 
grievous, the greater the number of persons present who can be 
thus excited to commit the evil deed. 

To commit then the sin of Scandal, is it necessary that your 
conversations or actions have the effect of drawing your neighbor 
into sin? By no means, my Brethren; there is Scandal, when, 
considering the position of him who commits the evil, and the 
disposition of those in whose presence it is committed, there is 
good reason to fear that these persons will be enticed into sin. 
They happen not to fall, the grace of God has protected them, 
blessed be His holy name ! but you who have said or done this 
wicked thing, which of itself was capable of inducing others to 
imitate your example and to sin as you sinned, you are culpable, — 
you have given Scandal. He who heard or saw you, resisted the 
temptation ; but you desired to make him fall ; you did what lay 
in your power to produce that sad result, you are therefore as guilty 
as if he fell. It was thus that the unfaithful wife of Putiphar 
became guilty of a great sin of Scandal, when, by her shameful 
solicitations, she sought to make the chaste Joseph fall into crime ; 
and yet Joseph yielded not to her base desires. Thus also the 
impious Antiochus gave great Scandal and committed an awful 
crime, when by threats and tortures, he endeavored to compel the 
Israelites to violate their holy laws, although he did not succeed in 
his unholy attempt, and the servants of God remained steadfast in 
the ways of the Lord and faithful to their duty. 

Is Scandal a great sin? It is, without doubt, a great crime to 
murder the body, — but to murder the soul is unquestionably far 
greater. St. Augustine m^kes a comparison between these two 
sins, and he clearly proves that the murderer of the soul is much 
more odious, though less dreaded, than the murderer of the body ; 
that his crime is more deserving of our tears and infinitely greater 
tlian that of the assassin, who is so severely punished by human 
justice. One causes us to lose a life which was destined in any 



264 SHORT SERMONS. 

event one day to end, and deprives the soul of a body which it had 
soon to quit, but which will be restored to it immortal ; the other 
wrests us from God, and destroys in us that supernatural life of 
grace, which it is so hard to recover when once it is lost. By tak- 
ing away the life of the body, the murderer becomes like Cain, who 
sacrificed his brother to his envy and wrath ; but by dragging us 
into sin by his Scandals, the murderer of our souls assimilates him- 
self to the devil, who, by enticing our first parents to disobey God, 
became a murderer, having by this one act of his malice brought 
death upon the whole human family. In depriving his fellow-being 
of life, the assassin only injures man ; but by inflicting death on 
his soul, he outrages God himself ! He robs the God of goodness 
of the souls whom He had purchased with His own blood, and 
gives them over to be held in slavery by the devil ; he strips our 
loving Lord of the fruits of His painful death, and destroys, as far 
as in him lies, the work of our redemption ! No wonder then if 
Jesus Christ should pronounce the awful anathema against this sin : 

"Woe to the world because of Scandals Woe to that man by 

whom the Scandal cometh;" as if He said, misery, eternal misery to 
him who, by his actions, his words, his false judgments, his wicked 
jests, his raillery, or any other means which the devil, whose agent 
he is, can suggest, dares induce his neighbor to offend God and fall 
into the snares of Satan. **He that shall scandalize one of these 
little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a mill- 
stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the 
depths of the sea."* How richly does the scandalous man, — who by 
depriving a virtuous soul of its innocence, snatches it from the arms 
of the divine Mercy, and hands it over to be made the victim of 
that awful Justice which can destroy both body and soul forever, — 
how richly, I say, does he merit those terrible anathemas ! Let us 
fear Scandal, my Brethren, for it is a horrible crime. 

Scandal is in the sight of God a great sin, and yet nothing is 
more common even among Christians than Scandal, We commit 
it without alarm or uneasiness of any sort. Tell me, are there not 
many parents here present who make no account of disputing, 
wrangling, and quarreling among themselves, and who oftentimes 

* St. Matthew, xviii : 6. 



ox SCANDAL. 265 

commit still worse sins in the presence of their children ? Is it not 
very common for fathers of families, in the presence of their ser- 
vants and children, to curse, swear and blaspheme, to ridicule and 
calumniate their neighbors ? Arc there no Christians who urge 
their dependents to commit evil deeds ? Do we never meet any 
who shamelessly and unrestrainedly give bridle to the impure 
tongue, and utter the most obscene words"? Is the number of those 
people small, who indulge in criminal familiarites in the fields 
during harvest time, in the long winter evenings, at dances, at 
weddings, and at parties ? You sing immodest and indecent songs, 
— they resound on every side, — pass from mouth to mouth, from 
ear to ear. Ah ! how many souls are lost by the impure thoughts 
which these songs suggest to the mind, and by the guilty fire which 
they light up in the heart ! How many Scandals are given, and 
how many poor souls are lost by these Scandals ! and who now-a- 
days has a horror of these sins ? We easily become familiarized 
with them, and they who commit them most, far from feeling shame 
and remorse, soon learn to glory in their iniquity. Yet, do not 
deceive yourselves, you are bound to repair the spiritual evil done 
to your neighbor, the injury inflicted on his soul by your Scandals. 
You owe it to God, whom you have robbed of glory ; you owe it 
to Jesus Christ, from whom you have wrested souls for whose sal- 
vation He shed the last drop of His sacred blood ; you owe it to 
your neighbor : restore to these souls the grace, the innocence, the 
friendship of God, the precious blessings which you have taken 
from them. How will you do it ? I will tell you. Pray for those 
whom you have scandalized ; give them good example, and let your 
conduct for the future be the very reverse of that which you now 
regret ; impose upon yourselves a penance commensurate, if possible, 
to the nuniber and enormity of the Scandals which you have had 
the misfortune to commit. In a word, the man who by his 
Scandals robs God of His glory by taking away souls from Him, 
is obliged to do whatever is in his power to restore this glory to 
the Almighty, by contributing to the salvation of as many souls as 
he possibly can. It is true, he will not rescue from hell the souls 
he has already sent there by his Scandals, but he will at least have 
done what God requires of him. 

Now, my Brethren, you know how great is the crime of P^candal. 
23 



266 SHOKT SERMONS. 

The man who gives Scandal mnrders the soul of his neighbor, for 
he drags it into sin and into eternal death. Take heed, therefore, 
and never more fall into this detestable sin. Never say any thing, 
— never do any thing which may induce your fellow-creature to 
commit crime ; but engrave upon your memory these awful words 
of Jesus Christ : *' Woe to that man by whom Scandal cometh !" 
Let these words be perpetually present to your minds, and God 
grant that you never again fall into the sin of Scandal, — that none 
but good words ever again come out of your mouths, — that you 
perform only good deeds, — that you fulfill your duties as true 
Christians, — and thus one day reach heaven, by walking along the 
path of virtue on earth.— Amen. 



SERMON LIY. 

SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 

ON ADULTERY. 

"Thou shalt not commit adultery." — Exodus, xx: 14. 

There is a sin which the language of every people calls shameful 
and infamous ; a sin which caused the world to be submerged in a 
deluge ; which brought down fire from heaven upon five wicked 
cities, and changed the places which they occupied into a fetid lake ; 
and this sin is that which is forbidden by the Sixth Commandment. 
I do not deny, my Brethren, that I fear speaking to you about the 
sins which the Sixth Commandment of God forbids. Nevertheless, 
I hope with the divine assistance so to discharge my duty, that 
my tongue shall not utter a single word calculated to offend your 
ears or sully your hearts. 

"Thou shalt not commit Adultery ;" that is, thou must not be 
guilty of any uncleanness of body or of mind. You must not 
prostitute your body to shameful, base actions ; you must not let 



ON ADULTERY. 267 

your mind consent to lustful desires or unchaste thoughts, but you 
must avoid all impurity. 

Adultery, which is the violation of the fidelity which the husband 
and wife promised to each other at the foot of the altar, is one of the 
most enormous sins opposed to the beautiful virtue of purity. He 
who is guilty of it, violates conjugal chastity, tramples under foot 
the oath which he made before God and His Church, and commits 
an act of crying injustice, for he acts contrary to the rights which 
each of the married couple has over the body of the other, and by 
this crime, perhaps, introduces into the family a stranger to inherit 
a portion of the estate, which ought, in justice, to descend only to 
legitimate children. Adultery, therefore, is a fourfold sin : of lust, 
treachery, perjury and robbery. Understand well then, you married 
people, the heinousness and enormity of this crime, — and if ever 
you are tempted to commit it, call to mind the example of heroic 
courage and virtue which the chaste Susanna presented to the 
world. Two wicked old men threatened to have her condemned to 
death if she refused to comply with their sinful desires ; but this 
holy daughter of Israel cast her eyes upon heaven, and preferred 
death rather than to save her life by sin. God vindicated her 
innocence, and saved her from the hands of the wicked. Never 
forget this beautiful example, and you will drive from your presence 
the vile seducer, and will not fall into sin. 

But the true Christian is not satisfied with hating and avoiding 
the sin of Adultery, he has a horror also for every action, every 
word, and even every thought contrary to the holy virtue of chastity ; 
for he knows that the law of the Decalogue and the Gospel com- 
mand him to fly these criminal things ; he knows that Jesus Christ 
condemns, the man who looks on a woman with concupiscence and 
bad desires ; he knows that in this shameful kind of sin there is no 
light or trivial matter, that in it all sins are mortal as soon as he 
gives his full consent ; he knows that every sin of impurity deprives 
him of the grace of God and closes against him the gates of heaven. 

Yes, God detests these impure things, and they are sovereignly 
displeasing in His sight. Why so ? Call to mind the truths 
which faith teaches us, my Brethren, and you will easily understand 
the reason : " Know you not," says St. Paul, " that your bodies are 
the members of Christ ? Shall I then, taking the members of 



268 SHORT SEKMOKS. 

Christ, make them the members of a harlot ? God forbid.*** Has 
not the Creator made man to His own likeness ? Has not our flesh 
been ennobled by the incarnation of the Son of God ? Have not 
our bodies been sanctified by the unction of baptism and confir- 
mation, and have we not been incorporated with our Lord in the 
adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist ? Are not our bodies, in fine, 
the living temples of the Holy Ghost ?f God condescends to dwell 
within us ; is it not, therefore, a matter of the greatest importance 
that we should respectfully bear in our hearts this exalted guest, 
glorifying Him in our mortal bodies which He consents to honor 
with His divine presence? Kemember that your flesh does not 
belong to you, but to Him who created and redeemed you. Eecol- 
lect that, if you permit your bodies to follow the desires of corrupt 
nature, you violate the sanctity of the most august temple of God, 
you drive from it the Holy Spirit, and you introduce an unclean 
spirit to reign therein instead of God. Know also that you commit 
a sin which extinguishes faith, brutalizes the soul, kills the body, 
and degrades man to a level with unclean animals. How justly 
then does God detest this sin, and command us to fly from every 
thing which might lead us to it, but more especially from idleness 
and intemperance in eating and drinking, which are the ordinary 
sources of sins against purity ! 

Idleness is the mother of all vices, and particularly of the one of 
which I speak. When a man has nothing to do, his spirit must 
necessarily be borne toward some object, and it scarcely ever fails to 
rest upon those things which are most detrimental to innocence and 
modesty. In idleness, the imagination is active and represents to 
itself impure images, in which the will easily takes pleasure, and to 
which it soon gives consent. In idleness, the remembrance of past 
sins return with great facility to the mind, and not unfrequently 
with new pleasure and delight. When a man has nothing good 
and useful to employ himself about, he has all his time to devote 
to evil thoughts and evil actions. Beside, the devil, who is always 
on the watch to surprise us, never fails to attack us at the time 
when he is persuaded that we are most weak and least prepared to 
resist him; he therefore always desires to find us idle. When 

* 1 Corinthians, vi : 15. t 1 Corinthians, vi : 19. 



ON AD U LTEiiV . 2G9 

neither the body nor the mind is occupied, all the doors of the soul 
are open to the suggestions of the impure spirit, and he never fails to 
avail himself of this occasion, always so favorable to his wicked 
designs. We should therefore be always doing something, says St. 
Augustine, that being continually occupied, we may be able to avoid 
the wiles and resist the attacks of the tempter. Let the devil always 
find you employed, says St. Jerome, for he who works is tempted 
only by one devil, while the idler is pursued by legions. I appeal 
to your own experience, my Brethren, is it not true that you owe to 
idleness the misfortune of having committed many of your sins. 
Is it not true that you are more frequently tempted on days when 
you have nothing to do than on those when you are hard at work ? 
Here is a young man : — for a whole week he has no bad thought, 
commits no immodest action, because he labors diligently and 
constantly. But as soon as Sunday comes, this same young man, 
so prudent and wise during the week days, now goes into bad com- 
pany, gives expression to obscene, filthy words, entertains impure 
thoughts, commits actions which God condemns, sullies his mind, 
his heart and his body with horrible sins. Whence does this 
lamentable change come? The question is easily answered; in- 
stead of keeping the Lord's day holy by devoting it to exercises 
of piety and religion, as God and the Church command him, he 
passes the whole day in idleness, with bad companions. How 
many are the sins which he commits; and how much, alas! is 
their number increased, if to idleness he has the misfortime to add 
intemperance in drinking, — the degrading vice of drunkenness ! 

My Brethren, the experience of every age teaches us, that nothing 
so effectually excites men to impurity as wine and intoxicating 
drinks. It is very difficult for those who are addicted to the use of 
spirituous liquors to be truly chaste. Whenever you see a drunkard, 
you may be certain that he is also an immodest man. The conse- 
quence is legitimate, as experience abundantly proves. "Be not 
drunk with wine, w^herein is luxury.* Keep always before you this 
maxim of the wise man : "wine is a luxurious thing, and drunken- 
ness riotous ; whosoever is delighted therewith shall not be wise."f 
Listen to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Wisdom : 

» Ephesians, V : 18. t Proverbs, xx : 1. 



270 SHORT SERMONS. 

** take heed," He says, *'lest your hearts be surfeited with drunken- 
ness and gluttony." St. Jerome emphatically tells us, that a body 
full of strong drinks will wallow in criminal delights. 

Avoid idleness, refrain from drunkenness, if you wish to preserve 
in your hearts the holy virtue of purity. "My son," says the wise 
man, *'if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them ; walk not 
thou with them : restrain thy foot from their paths, for their feet run 
to evil."* If you wish to be pure, my Brethren, shun every 
dangerous occasion of sin; rely not upon your own strength, nor trust 
your own wisdom, for, as St. Augustine says, you are not stronger 
than David, nor wiser than Solomon. But into what shocking sins 
did these two kings fall, by imprudently exposing themselves to 
dangerous occasions. Ah ! if you are not stronger nor wiser than 
they were, how much reason have you to fear ? But, perhaps, you 
have been living for this long time past, in the occasion which I 
fear so much for you. Alas ! you will lose your soul, and there is 
no salvation for you, unless you destroy that criminal habit, break 
that connection, quit that person who has caused you so often to 
offend God, and depart from that house wherein you have been so 
many times betrayed. My dear Brother, you wish, no doubt, to be 
once more pure and chaste, to be relieved of the heavy weight of 
sin under which you groan ; quit then, quit the occasion of your 
sin, for the Holy Ghost has declared "that he who loves the danger 
shall perish in the danger." 

And you pure souls, you have a great love for this angelic 
virtue, but you have your fears, because you have so much to 
endure from temptations. Listen- to those words of St. John of 
Damascus: "Watching, labor, prayer and fasting are the arms 
which you must employ to overcome the concupiscence of the flesh. 
Join to these pious practices the thought of death and the rigor of 
the torments reserved for those who abandon themselves to the 
mortal pleasures of sensuality." And I may add to those words 
of the holy doctor, frequent the sacraments ; often purify your soul 
in the waters of penance ; present yourself often at the table of the 
Lord to feast there on the bread of the strong and the wine which 
makes virgins. Above all, have a true devotion to the most holy 

» Proverbs, i: 10, 15 



O S T H K ¥ 1 . 271 

Virgin. Pray to the Mother of God with fervor and perseverance, 
and she will not cease to watch over yon, to aid and support you 
in the hour of trial, for she protects, in a special manner, those 
souls who desire to serve God with pure and chaste hearts. Adopt 
the holy practice of reciting every morning and evening three times 
the "Hail Mary" in honor of her immaculate conception. You 
will thus become pleasing in her sight, and she will obtain for you 
from her divine Son many and powerful graces. If you wish then 
to remain pure, "watch and pray," says our divine Saviour, ''that 
you enter not into temptation ;" that is, that you may not yield to 
the temptation of the flesh. Keep yourselves in the presence of 
God, who sees all things, even the most secret thoughts of your 
hearts. Remember that a great recompense in the eternal habi- 
tations awaits those who shall have fought on earth the good fight 
of the Lord, and preserved in their hearts the beautiful virtue of 
purity, the virtue which will elevate men to the rank of the 
angels. — Amen. 



SERMON LV. 

SEVENTH COMMANDMENT. 

ON THEFT. 

"Thou shall not st^al." — Exodus, xx : 15. 

Admire the infinite goodness and love of God for man. Not 
satisfied with protecting our life, our body, our honor and our repu- 
tation, by these two precepts : "Thou shalt not kill ; — thou shalt 
not commit adultery;" He is also pleased by this commandment: 
"Thou shalt not steal," to forbid all injury to our external goods 
and whatever may belong to us. By this, God designs to hinder 
any one from taking away or damaging the property of another, 
of which He declares himself the protector. There are a great 



2'72 S H U K T 55 E K M O N S . 

many vvajH oi' injuring our neighbor in his property : to-day I 
will speak only of theft. 

"Thou shalt not steal." God prohibits theft, that is to say, the 
taking away by violence, by cunning, or by fraud, goods which do 
not belong to us. To offer violence to our neighbor to obtain 
possession of his jDroperty, is called robbeiy. Such is the crime 
committed by highwaymen, and those who abuse their credit, their 
authority or their strength, to compel the weak to give up their 
goods. They also are guilty of this crime, who take advantage of 
the fears and wants of the poor, the widow and the orphan, to 
plunder them. In a word, all these are guilty of robbery, who 
trample under foot the rights of the helpless and the weak ;"* they 
are all detestable robbers of their neighbor's property. Simple 
stealing consists in taking a thing secretly and without the knowl- 
edge of him to whom it belongs. 

Even had God not forbidden us in the Decalogue to steal the 
property of another, the natural law would have taught us that 
stealing is a crime, for it forbids us to do to another what we would 
not be willing to have done to ourselves, ilsow, it is a contradiction 
in words to say, that any one willingly suffers his property to be 
taken away or retained against his will. But not only is theft 
opposed to the natural law and to justice, it is also contrary to 
charity, since, far from allowing us to do him wrong, charity 
imposes upon us the obligation of wishing well to our neighbor, 
and assisting him as far as we are able. What would become of 
society, if men could lawfully and with, impunity take away one 
another's goods ? And of how many evils is not theft the origin ? 
It is the source of a multitude of rash judgments, hatreds, enmities, 
animosities, murders and revolutions. No one, therefore, can doubt 
that theft is in its nature a mortal sin. The Apostle St. Paul 
clearly marks it as such, when he says, that neither those who 
commit fraud, nor thieves shall ever possess the kingdom of 
heaven.* The prophet Zacharias had, long before, pronounced 
the condemnation of all injustice: ''This is the curse," said he, 
"that goeth forth over the face of the earth; for every thief shall 
be judged as is there written. "f Another prophet exclaimed: 

* 1 Corintluans, vi : 10. f Zacharias. v: 3. 



OS iUKKT. L'Tci 

" Woe to him that heapeth together that which is not his own! how 
long also doth he load himself with thick clay ?"* Yes, woe to him 
that soils his soul with " thick clay," that is to say, with ill-gotten 
goods, which, like mire, burden and defile his soul ! Woe to him 
who lays violent hands on the goods of his brother ! Woe to the 
thief or robber, before, during and after his criminal action ! There 
is nothing for him but fear and anguish. 

See the man who has conceived the dreadful thought of stealing 
the goods of his neighbor, what cautious, hypociitical steps he 
takes ! What trouble he is at to prevent the discovery of his 
criminal plans ! With what anxiety and trembling he advances, 
sti-etches forth his arm and lays his hand on the property of his 
neiglibor. The stirring of a leaf, — the creaking of a piece of 
furniture, — the distant bark of a dog is enough to make him 
tremble, and often puts the thief to flight. But the theft is accom- 
plished. Then, what cares, what trouble, uneasiness and concern 
to hide the theft from the knowledge of all, — to be able to use, or 
sell the ill-gotten goods. What anguish tills his guilty soul, when 
he considers that it is possible he may still be discovered and 
delivered into the hands of justice, to be for ever dishonored, 
despised, and shunned by the whole world. You know well, my 
Brethren, and experience confirms the truth of what I say, that 
those who are known as thieves, are everywhere regarded with 
horror and detestation. Stealing is one of those vices which cover 
with shame and degradation, not merely such as are convicted, but 
even those who are suspected of them. The very name of thief is 
looked on with abhorrence, because we feel that he who deserves it 
is Avell nigh an assassin in heart. You pardon a man a hundred 
defects and weaknesses, but let any one tell you that he is a thief, 
and you forthwith shun him, and drive him from your house. 
Behold then a sin which is the inexhaustible source of disgrace and 
vexation. The Holy Ghost says : " confusion and repentance is upon 
a thief, and an evil mark of disgrace upon the double-tongued." ■}• 
Add to all this, that stolen goods never benefit the thief, as he must 
one day restore them, and you will admit, that stealing is not only 
a great crime, but also a great act of folly. I am aware that even 

* Habacuc, ii : 6. t Ecelosiasticu?, v : 17. 



274 !iHOKT SEKMONb. 

for this crime there are persons who seek to excuse themselves, and 
who, deceiving themselves, will not acknowledge that they are as 
guilty as they in reality are. The thief will say : it is true, I took 
what did not helong to me ; but it was from a rich man ; he will 
not thereby suffer ; he did not even discover his loss. This is a 
miserable and detestable excuse, says the Catechism of the Council 
of Trent. Were you yourselves rich, would you be satisfied that a 
stranger should come and take what he pleased of your goods with- 
out your consent? You surely would not; do not deceive your- 
selves then, all men, — the rich as well as the poor, — desire that their 
property should not be stolen. Beside, does the law of God say to 
you : thou shalt not steal from the poor man ? Does it not, with- 
out any exception, tell you : not to steal, not to appropriate to your- 
selves the goods of any one without his knowledge and against his 
will ? Whether, therefore, your neighbor be rich or poor, every time 
you steal his goods, you do what God forbids, — -and you are a thief. 
Nevertheless, although it is always a sin to take the property of 
another, all stealing is not a mortal sin. The grievousness of this 
sin is in proportion to the damage which it causes to our neighbor ; 
so that, if the thing stolen be of such trifling consequence that our 
neighbor thereby scarcely suffers any damage, the sin is not one of 
those which will exclude you from the kingdom of heaven. But, 
says a learned theologian,* whoever the person be, whether rich or 
poor, against whom the theft is committed, we think that the sum 
of one dollar is sufficient for a mortal sin. You may even sin 
mortally by taking a very small matter ; as when the theft, however 
trifling in itself, causes considerable injury to your neighbor. Thus, 
the man who would steal a few cents, or a little bread to the value 
of a few cents, from a very poor person, who had nothing else to 
support his life for that day, would commit a mortal sin, not indeed 
on account of the value of the thing in itself, which, no doubt is 
very trifling, but because of his cruelty to this poor person, who, he 
knows, must suffer a great deal in consequence. Suppose you have 
the intention of stealing a great sum of money, but it hapjDcns that 
you can take but a very small part of what you coveted ; before 
God, you sin mortally, for, in His eyes, the desire is taken for the 

* Gousset. 



»> N TH liFT. 275 

act. He also sins mortally who steals at the same time from 
different persons many little things, but which taken together form 
matter for grievous sin. You commit a great many small thefts, 
yet without the intention of taking a considerable sum at any one 
time ; but all these small thefts are morally united, either by your 
intention, or by being committed within a very limited period ; in 
this case you also sin grievously by the last of the thefts, which 
completed the matter sufficient for a mortal sin. It is here, above 
all, that we see the truth of those words of the Holy Ghost: "He 
that contemneth small things, shall fall by little and little."* 

You would deceive yourselves, my Brethren, if you supposed that 
the Seventh Commandment forbids only stealing or appropriating 
to your use your neighbor's goods. It is also a transgression of this 
precept, willfully to waste, or deliberately to destroy, the property 
of another. This is even in some respects more criminal than theft, 
since ill-gotten goods are serviceable to some bod}^ the stolen thing 
may be turned to use, may be sold and applied to the benefit of 
some one ; but what advantage can it be to you or any one else, 
when impelled by anger, hatred or revenge, you destroy your 
neighbor's property, his house, stock or farm? You derive no 
other advantage from this except the horrible satisfaction of having 
gratified your wicked desires, your vile and detestable passion. 
Unjust suspicions arise in the mind of this man, whose property you 
have injured ; perhaps he will curse and blaspheme, and deadly enmity 
will spring up in his heart, ^vliich may bring about the ruin of thou- 
sands of souls. You have to answer before God for all these sad con- 
sequences of your sin ; you will have much to restore and much to 
repair, if you wish to obtain forgiveness, and die in the grace of God. 

Therefore, my Brethren, be very careful never to commit the sin 
of theft. Trust not to yourselves, for we become gradually accus- 
tomed to evil; conscience by degrees becomes hardened to remorse, 
and what appeared at first considerable, will soon seem light and 
even insignificant. Never forget what our divine Saviour has said : 
"he that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that 
which is greater; and he that is unjust in that which is little, is 
unjust also in that which is greater."* Let the fear of God and 

* Ecclesiaaticus, xix : 1. t Luke, xvi : lO. 



276 SHOUT 3 ]£ K M O N S . 

the love of justice be the invariable rules of your conduct. If it 
please God to try you by reducing you to poverty, do not lose sight 
of those beautiful words of holy Tobias : -" We are the children of 
saints, and look for that life which God will give to those that 
never change their faith from him . . . We lead indeed a poor life ; 
but we shall have many good things if we fear God, and depart 
from all sin, and do that which is good."* Ah ! my Brethren, 
"what doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his 
own soul?" Far better is it, patiently and resignedly, to earn our 
bread in the sweat of our brow, consoled by the thought that the 
just will inherit the land of the living, and will dwell there 
forever. — Amen. 



SERMON LVI. 

SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.— (Continued.) 

ON THEFT.— (Continued.) 



"Thou shalt not steal." — ^Exodus, xx : 15. 

The law of the Lord is violated and the seventh precept of th^ 
Decalogue transgressed in a vast variety of ways. Sins of injustice 
are so various, so numerous, that it is almost impossible to point 
them all out. However, I deem it my duty once more to speak to 
you on the sins opposed to the commandment which forbids us to 
steal. I will tell you some of the many unjust acts which are most 
easily and most commonly committed in the world ; and I will hold 
them up to your view, in such a way that you may conceive a salu- 
tary dread of them, and that you may never depart from the ways 
of duty. 

We commit a sin of injustice when we deceive our neighbor. 
Those persons therefore sin against justice and become guilty of 

* Tobias, ii: 18;— iii: 23. 



ON T H E F T . 277 

theft, wlio, in trade or commerce, demand for damaged and counter- 
feit articles, the same price as if the articles were good and genuine ; 
those too, who take advantage of the ignorance or want of the 
seller, for the purpose of buying things a great deal under their 
value and below the ordinary price, they who resort to cunning and 
deceit to make it appear that their goods are worth a great deal more 
than they in reality are ; those, in fine, who, monopolizing any 
article, raise it to an exhorbitant price and thereby oppress the poor ; 
which is a sin detestable in the sight of God. All these persons 
violate the Seventh Commandment. Those also are guilty of theft, 
who keep a criminal silence relative to the hidden defects of the 
things which they .«i«ll, and require for them the same price as if 
they were not defective. You sell an animal affected by some secret 
disease, and receive for it the ordinary price, yet you feel no scruple 
of conscience for having done so. What do I say ? you glory in 
the deed, and boa-st of having outwitted those simple people whose 
eyes were not sufficiently sharp to discover the snare which you set 
for them ; jo-n glory in your triumph, but you are far from receiving 
glory for it before God ! They also commit theft, who, in their deal- 
ings, make use of false weights and measures. Listen to those words 
of the i^lmighty : '*Thou shalt not have diverse weights in thy bag, 
a greater and a less : neither shall there be in thy house a greater 
bushel and a less : thou shalt have a just and a true weight ; and 
thy bushel shall be equal and true.* Do not any unjust thing in 
judgment, in rule, in weight, or in measure. Let the balance be 
just, and the weights equal, and the bushel, for I am the Lord thy 
God.f Diverse weights and diverse measures, both are abominable 
before God. J" Say not that these persons are excusable because 
they cause no great damage by their small thefts to any one in par- 
ticular. We must judge them as we would judge the man who 
should steal a consideiable sum from a community or a city ; the 
wrong he does to each particular individual is very slight, but the 
injury he commits against the community, — against society at 
large, — is great and considerable. This man therefore is guilty of 
mortal sin. 

Men commit a sin of injustice and transgress the Seventh Com- 

• Deuteronomy, xxv : 13. + Leviticus, xix : 35. { Proverbs, xx : 10. 



278 SHORT SERMONS. 

mandment, when they do not discharge well their duties as pro- 
tectors or guardians ; when they do not administer with care and 
fidelity the property of the widow and the orphan ; or avail them- 
selves of the widow's and orphan's funds to enrich themselves or 
their families. The master who retains all or a part of the wages 
due to his workmen or servants, without a just reason, is likewise 
guilty of a breach of this precept. He is nothing less than a 
detestable robber of his neighbor's hard earnings. To rob the 
widow and the orphan, to rob the laborer of his hire, are two 
crimes crying to heaven for vengeance. St. James says : " Your 
gold and silver is rusted : and the rust of them shall be for a testi- 
mony against you ; and shall eat your flesh as fire. You have stored 
up for yourselves wrath against the last days. Behold, the hire of 
the laborers, who have reaped your fields of which you have de- 
frauded them, crieth out ; and the cry of them hath entered into the 
ears of the Lord of saboath."* Yes, it is an awful crime to defraud 
the laborer of his hire : but on the other hand how many workmen 
also violate this Seventh Commandment? All those sin against 
justice, who keep for themselves, carry away, or turn to their own 
use the property of their employers : all who ask more material or 
stuff than is necessary for the work they have to perform : all who, 
in the discharge of their duty, culpably lack activity or care ; who do 
not what they could and should do, but idle away their time, which 
in truth is no longer theirs, but his who employs them ; all who 
are wanting in care of their master's property, who let them be 
robbed and plundered without at least warning them of the injury. 
They are also highly blameworthy, who through negligence break, 
damage or lose the things confided to their care. 

Are we to distinguish those who contract debts in bad faith from 
the robber ? No, my Friends ; from the moment you contract 
debts, you have in your possession the goods of another, and if 
you refuse at the appointed time to restore them or the equivalent 
agreed upon, you unjustly retain what does not belong to you, and 
you are reputed as stealing it every instant. The Holy Ghost says : 
"Bender to all their dues. Owe no man any thing. "f I speak 
here only of those who contract debts in bad faith, or who have 

* St. James, v : 3, 4. f Romans, xiii : 7, 8. 



ON THEFT. 27d 

no intention of paying them. An honest man may, without any 
fault of hi."*, sometimes find it impossible to pay his debts. He 
wanted neither good faith nor prudence, but misfortune came upon 
him and ruined him. He has much to endure, but his inability to 
satisfy his creditors pains him more than all the rest, — he conceals 
nothing, — explains the full extent of his misfortune candidly to 
them, — saves up, — economizes, — spends nothing foolishly or super- 
Huously, that he may be able one day to pay his debts, — he surely 
is not guilty. But we can not say as much for those who have not 
the will to pay what they owe, who pay only because they can not 
help it, and only when they are compelled to do so ; nor for those 
who borrow money, knowing well that they will not be able to 
refund it. They also are culpable, who by their extravagance 
render themselves unable to satisfy their creditors, who perhaps 
will be themselves plunged into misery in consequence of the unjust 
and cruel refusal they receive when they demand what was lawfully 
due to them. Is not this a crying injustice ? Is it not simply 
robbing one's neighbor ? 

It is also a sin against justice and the law of God to receive stolen 
goods ; it is favoring and encouraging injustice, and whoever acts 
thus, becomes an accomplice in the theft. It is therefore right to 
say, that the receiver is as bad as the thief. We also offend God 
when we buy stolen goods. It is unlawful to keep not only things 
known to have been stolen, but even those which we have reason to 
suspect are the fruits of injustice and theft. Say not then, like 
some people who are blinded by cupidity : If I do not buy this 
stolen property, some body else will. This reasoning amounts to 
nothing, my Brethren, and it will never justify you in buying stolen 
property. Is it not the same as if you said : If I do not commit 
this act of injustice, another will ? In the sight of God you are not 
free from theft, because if you did not steal, another would. 

A great number of people sin against justice and the law of God 
by the way they act when they find goods which were lost. Listen 
to what St. Augustine says : " You have found on the road a purse 
which contains some money. This money is not yours. You are 
obliged to give it to the owner as soon as possible. All excuses 
are frivolous, and sordid avarice alone finds reason in them." Treat 
others as you would wish to be treated by them. Do to others as 



280 SHORT SERMONS. 

you would have them do to you. If you lost any thing, would you 
give it to the person who found it ? Would you not, on the con- 
trary, make every exertion to discover the finder and get your 
property back from him ? Observe the same rule with respect to 
your neighbor ; try to find out the lawful owner of what you have 
found, and restore to him his property. But, after having made all 
the exertions to find him which justice and charity demand, if you 
can not ascertain to whom it belongs, what ought you to do with 
this object ? If you are poor, keep it for yourself; if you are not 
poor, many authors of great merit and weight say, that it would be 
injustice for you to keep it, and contend that it must be applied to 
good and pious purposes ; other theologians say, that it is lawful for 
you to use such property, and their opinion is probable. 

These are, my Brethren, the sins most frequently committed 
against the Seventh Commandment. We will avoid them if the 
love of Grod and our neighbor dwell in our hearts, — if we desire 
and intend to work out our salvation ; if we know how to content 
ourselves with what G-od has given us ; and if we employ our 
strength, our health and our time in earning an honest living. If 
such be our dispositions, when temptation assails us we will say to 
ourselves : Were one to take away my goods, to deceive me, destroy 
my property, or approprite to himself what I had lost, would I be 
satisfied with such conduct ? I certainly would not. Then I Avill 
never do to another what I would not wish others should do to me. 
May God remove the temptation far from me, that I may be reckoned 
among the number of those whose hands are clean and pure. 

My Brethren, let us remember that the commandment which 
forbids us to steal the property of our neighbor, commands us to 
give a part of our means to the poor, — to give alms to those who 
have not the necessaries of life, and above all, to help such as are 
not able to work for their living. Far from taking, let us give, 
and it will be given unto us, as the Gospel tells us. Let us be 
sensible to the wants of the poor, let us relieve them according to 
our means, and assist them in their necessities. Hearken to the 
voice of Him who promises that a glass of cold water given in His 
name will not go unrewarded. Charity and " alms-deeds cover 
a multitude of sins." Yes, they will obtain for you repentance, 
pardon and heaven, — Amen. 



K E S T I T U T I N . 281 

SERMON LVII. 

SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.— (Continued.) 

RESTITUTION. 



"If it -were taken away by stealth, he shall make the loss good to the owner.'* 
Exodus, xxii : 12. 

You should bear in mind, my Brethren, that each of the com- 
mandments of God is composed of two distinct parts, — the one 
negative, expressing what is forbidden, the other positive, declaring 
what is commanded by the precept. The negative part of the 
Seventh Commandment forbids theft and all injustice, — the positive 
part commands the restitution of ill-acquired wealth, and the repar- 
ation of all wrong done to our neighbor's property. 

To-day I intend speaking to you of Restitution : I will explain to 
you its necessity, and how it should be made. May God in His 
mercy grant that this instruction sink deep into your hearts ; for I 
regard it as one of the most important of all that we have to treat. 
To obtain the remission of other sins, it is sufficient to repent, con- 
fess and amend ; but with regard to sins of theft and injustice, they 
can not be forgiven and blotted out, unless the things which have 
been stolen be restored, and the wrong done to our neighbor be 
repaired. Restitution is a duty so strict and binding, that nothing 
can dispense us from it, when there is a possibility of fulfilling it : 
the efficacy of the sacraments and the power of the priests can not 
release from the obligations of justice. A man has laid unjust hands 
on the property of another, and this sin oppresses his conscience ; 
hence he fasts, — practices mortification, — prays, — goes often to cast 
himself at the feet of the priest in the sacred tribunal of penance, — 
gives abundant alms, but still he is unwilling to let go his grasp on 
his neighbor's goods, and will not make Restitution. His prayers, 
his alms and his confession avail him nothing. "Who shall ascend 
24 



282 



SHORT SERMONS. 



into the mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy 
place? The innocent in hands, who hath not sworn deceitfully 
to his neighbor," says the Holy Ghost.* The prophet Ezechiel, 
tells us also, ''that if the wicked man restore the pledge, and 
render what he had robbed, and walk in the commandments of life, 
and do no unjust thing ; he shall surely live, and shall not die."f 
Another prophet, Habacuc, says, "woe to him that heapeth together 
that which is not his own,"]; for, if he dies thus loaded with 
the goods of others which he has unjustly acquired, his soul shall 
never see God. "If," says St. Augustine, "they who have not 
exercised works of mercy toward their brethren, shall be condemned 
to eternal fire, as our Saviour assures us, they also who have robbed 
their neighbors of their property and are unwilling to make Resti- 
tution, shall be condemned to the same fire and the same torments. 
Nothing defiled shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." The 
Holy Ghost calls injustice " thick clay," in order to show us how 
difficult it is to get rid of it, and the great struggle the unjust man 
must undergo before he decides on restoring his ill-gotten goods. 
It is difficult to make Restitution ; nevertheless, my Brethren, God 
demands it of you ; you must strip your soul of the riches of 
iniquity, if you wish that Jesus Christ should say to you as He 
once said to Zacheus : " this day is salvation come to this house :" 
because, my Brethren, on that day its master restored his unjust 
riches, he found the salvation and life of his soul, the only true 
riches which followed him into eternity, and which will never be 
taken away. 

But how must Restitution be made ? Who ought to be the first 
to make it ? He who has committed the theft or done any thing 
prejudicial to his neighbor. If he refuse or find it impossible to do 
so, then all those who have taken a ttirect part in the guilty action 
are bound to make Restitution ; such as they who, by their advice 
or solicitations, have induced the guilty party to commit the crime ; 
they who procured the means and helped him to commit it, or who 
bought or furnished the necessary instruments ; those who protected 
or harbored the thief, or who received or purchased the stolen goods. 
All these have been a cause that their neighbor has been deprived 

* Psalms, xxiii : 3,4. f Ezechiel, xxxiii : 15. t Habacuc, ii : 6. 



KE8T1T L'TION . :^83 

of something belonging to him, all are therefore jointly and sever- 
ally, or, as it is called, by solidarity, obliged to restore the unjustly 
acquired property, to repair the evil which they helped to do, and 
to make good the damage which their neighbor has thereby suffered. 
This is the advantage which a man gains by participating in an 
unjust act ! This is the sad fruit which he gathers from his criminal 
conduct ! How foolish then is he who forsakes the path of justice 
and probity ! He hoped to gain a great deal by affording an asylum 
and assistance to the thief, by buying at a low price stolen goods, 
but he did not consider that by these acts he took upon himself the 
obligation of restoring perhaps three or four times as much as he 
gained by his violation of the law of God. 

A thief must restore to the owner the very object which he stole 
from him. If it no longer exists, or if it has become useless or 
greatly damaged, he must restore another of equal value, or give 
its equivalent in money. He must, moreover, compensate for the 
losses and repair the wrongs which have accrued to the lawful ow^ner 
in consequence of the injustice done him. He who is tempted to 
take away the substance of his fellow-creature, ought seriously to 
ponder over these things. Let him say to himself: If I steal, I 
must make Restitution, — I must compensate for all the losses which 
my criminal conduct has caused, — I must repair all the wrong done 
to my neighbor : there is no doubt about it, I must do all this, if I 
wish to save my soul and attain heaven, for God declares true that 
saying of St. Jerome: "If you die with your conscience loaded 
with another's wealth, you will not be saved." Ah ! if men only 
made these salutary reflections, they would have much more courage 
to resist temptation, and acts of injustice would be far less frec[uent. 

Do not imagine that you escape from the great obligation of 
Restitution by promising to pray for those whom you have wronged. 
Suppose that a thief were to take away your property, and instead 
of giving it back to you would promise to pray fervently for you, 
would you not say to him : "Away with your hypocritical prayers, 
and give me back what you stole from me ?" Another will say : 
"It is true, I possess what does not belong to me, — but I give 
alms.** The Holy Ghost answers you: "Give alms from your 
own property." What you have stolen is not yours, it belongs to 
him from Avhom you have taken it. You give alms, you say, — "do 



284 SHORT S E K M O N S . 

you wish then," asks St. Augustine, *'to treat God as if He were 
a corrupt Judge, who might be bribed by a present ? If you do, 
you have a very false and very injurious idea of God. He detests 
those gifts which are the fruits of injustice, and all such alms are 
more capable of exciting than of appeasing His just indignation." 
But I do not know to whom I have to make Restitution, — I can 
not find out the lawful owner of the goods I unjustly possess. 
Have you made in good faith all the search you could for him ? 
If you have, and still did not discover him, then give to the poor 
what you have unjustly acquired, and this will cover your sin. But, 
understand well, that it is a debt which you discharge, and not 
an alms which you bestow ; pay therefore your debt in full. But 
it will ruin my family if I make this Restitution. My dear Brother, 
it is ten thousand times better for you and your family to live poor 
in this life than to be eternally miserable in the life to come. I 
can not restore, — I am a poor man myself. You may not be able to 
repair all your injustice, but can you not at least give back a part of 
what you have taken from your neighbor ? No ; I possess nothing, 
— I am miserably poor. If such be really the case, you are free 
from the obligation of Restitution. One must be satisfied to lose 
his rights when his debtor has nothing to give. But, my Brethren, 
you should at least pray for those who have suffered by your in- 
justice, and should form a firm resolution to make Restitution 
whenever it will be in your power to do so. In the mean time, 
God will be satisfied with your good will ; it suffices, provided it 
be efficacious, that is to say, if you exert yourselves, — if you 
retrench all unnecessary expenses and make every effort to amass 
enough wherewith to satisfy your obligation. But if, on the other 
hand, you make no sacrifice, if you make unnecessary expenses, lay 
out your earnings in pleasures, in vanity, in dress, you commit a 
new act of injustice, since you spend money which is not your 
own, — money which belongs to your neighbor: this is to insult 
God and those to whom you are indebted ; it is to prolong and 
multiply your iniquities, and to render yourselves more and more 
unworthy of pardon. 

I must now tell you the easiest and most convenient way of 
making Restitution. It may happen that it is not necessary for 
vou to restore the whole at once ; it is also not necessary for you to 



FALSK TESTIMONY. 285 

compromise your reputation. You may then restore at different 
times, and in such a way that your honor will not thereby suffer. 
For example, you can deposit a part of the sum in a place where 
you are morally certain that the lawful owner will recover it ; or, if 
you prefer it, you may ask your confessor to take charge of the 
goods and restore them for you to him to whom they justly belong. 
The obligation of Restitution, no doubt, presents some diffi- 
culties, — causes some trouble. But you must remember that it 
arises from your sin, and that it is your sin alone yon must blame. 
Accept all the trouble then as penance for your bad actions, — and 
suffer a little in this world that you may not have to suffer a great 
deal in the next. Suffer that you may merit that immortal inheri- 
tance which has not been acquired by gold or silver, but which has 
been purchased for you by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Ah ! 
let not the interests of your soul prevail over your worldly interests. 
Wrong nobody, — repair your injustices, — labor for heaven, — there 
you will be rich, — there you will be happy forever. — Amen. 



SERMOX LYIII. 

EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 

FALSE TESTIMONY. 



" Thou shait not bear false witness against thy neighbor." — ^Exodus, xx : 16. 

Our divine Lawgiver, after having, in the Fifth Commandment, 
watched with a tender solicitude over the preservation of our lives ; 
after having in the seventh protected our goods and property, 
undertakes in the Eighth the defense of our reputation and our 
honor, those riches often dearer than life itself, — the loss of which 
is capable of poisoning all the enjoyments of earth. Were this 
Eighth Commandment faithfully observed, distrust, dissimulation 
and hypocrisy would be banished from society, and we would see 



286 SHORT SERMONS. 

revived among us truth, intimate confidence and good faith, which 
would make the earth an anticipated paradise. What then does 
this commandment of God forbid ? It forbids not only False Testi- 
mony, but also calumny and detraction, rash judgments and lies ; in 
a word, all sins of the tongue or of thought which injures our neigh- 
bor's honor and reputation. To-day, I will speak to you of false 
testimony. 

• What is it to bear false witness against our neighbor ? It is to 
make a false statement against our neighbor before a court of justice, 
after having taken the oath which is usually required of witnesses. 
To depose falsely is never lawful ; it is always a sin, whether the testi- 
mony turn to the injury or to the advantage of our neighbor ; it is a 
mortal sin, including the sin of perjury, the matter of which is always 
mortal. The man who bears false witness against his neighbor, 
commits a three-fold sin ; he is guilty of perjury, since he testifies 
falsely, after swearing to tell the truth ; he is guilty of injustice, 
since he wrongs his neighbor, toward whom he is bound to observe 
the laws of justice and of charity ; he is guilty of lying, since he 
affirms or denies a thing contrary to what he knows to be true. 
Moreover, the man who swears falsely sins against three different 
persons ; against God, whose holy and divine presence he despises 
by calling upon Him to witness a falsehood ; against the judge, 
whom he insults in deceiving him by a lie ; against the adverse 
party, whom he endeavors to have unjustly condemned. Hence, 
there is no nation, however barbarous, that has not held in horror 
this detestable crime, so odious in the sight of God. The Holy 
Spirit says : ** Six things there are which the Lord hateth and the 
seventh his soul detesteth : Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that 
shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are 
swift to run into mischief, a deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and 
him that soweth discord among brethren.* He that justifies the 
wicked, and he that condemns the just, both are abominable before 
God.f A man that bears false witness against his neighbor, is like 
a dart and a sword and a sharp arrow. "J; 

It is the Almighty God himself who appointed the trial by wit- 
ness as the rule to be followed in the judgments of men ; it was 

* Proverbs, vi : 16 — 19. f Idem, xvli : 15. t Idem.xxv: 18. 



FALSE TESTIMONY. 287 

God who required that every sentence should be determined and 
decided upon the deposition of two or three witnesses,* as we read 
in the hook of Deuteronomy. It is the witness then who determines 
the sentence deciding the property, the fortune, the honor, and even 
the life of his brethren. How great and awful the responsibility 
which rests upon him ! But what must we say of the false witness ? 
Not only is he obliged to satisfy the justice of God by a penance 
proportionate to the enormity of his crime, he is also bound to 
repair all the wrong which he has by his malice caused to his neigh- 
bor ; nay, even at the risk of his life, to contradict what he had 
falsely sworn, if the reparation can not be otherwise effected, and 
if there is room to hope that, by confessing the truth, the accused 
party will be acquitted and his innocence recognized ; for, where 
the danger is equal between two persons, the condition of the inno- 
cent is preferable to that of the guilty, whose crime is the cause of 
his difficulty. The false witness is obliged to repair the wrong 
which he has through malice caused, even though he is not himself 
benefited by his injustice. His cooperation in the unjust act by his 
false testimony is enough to condemn him ; that alone renders him 
most culpable before God, and places him under the sad necessity 
of repairing all the evil which has arisen from his act. If however 
his oath, though contrary to truth, is the result of ignorance or of 
involuntary error, he is not bound to reparation, since he is not in 
this case justly chargeable with guilt. 

If therefore, my Brethren, it happens that you are called on as 
witnesses in any law-suit, remember that you are going to swear 
before God to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth." Tell therefore precisely what you know and just as you 
know it, as true what you believe to be true, as doubtful what 
seems to you doubtful, nothing, if you know nothing about the 
matter; but whatever you tell let it be always with rectitude, frank- 
ness and sincerity. Let neither hatred, or friendship, or compassion, 
or fear, the inclination to please any man, or the hope of sordid 
lucre, presents or threats, ever induce you to swerve from your duty 
and violate truth. Remember that the eye of God is upon you, 
and that False Testimony is an abominable crime. 



* Deuteronomy, xix : 15. 



^^88 SHORT SEKMONS. 

My Brethren, you admit that False Testimony is an awful sin, — 
an abomination before God. Can there be any crime more shock- 
ing ? there can, my Brethren ; the crime committed by him who 
brings a false accusation of a grievous nature against his neighbor's 
character. To accuse one's neighbor falsely, is to charge him with 
a criminal action of which he is innocent. The man who commits 
this crime, strikes a mortal blow at his neighbor's honor and repu- 
tation ; he abuses most detestably the authority confided to judges, 
and dishonors the sanctuary of justice. And what is the source of 
this dark offence? Sordid interest, self love, avarice, wounded 
pride or some other passion equally shameful. Believe me, God 
detests this crime, and he who commits it will not escape His 
almighty vengeance. 

The Sacred Scriptures furnish, in the history of Susanna, a 
striking instance of the hatred which Almighty God bears to False 
Testimony. Two wicked old men had, by a most calumnious accu- 
sation, caused this holy daughter of Juda to be comdemned to death. 
But God in vindication of her innocence inspired the prophet 
Daniel, then only a youth, to deny the justice of her sentence ; who 
being permitted to examine the two witnesses, clearly convicted 
them of falsehood. The sentence was reversed, and the false 
accusers were forced to undergo the death they had prepared for 
the chaste Susanna. 

How then should you act when compelled by just and lawful 
motives to sue your neighbor ? No doubt, if he has done you 
grievous wrong, you do not sin by seeking justice, for God permits 
you to do so. But take care, while giving your testimony, that you 
do not fail in truth. Do not exaggerate, — do not let yourself be 
carried away by anger, resentment or envy. Close - your heart 
against avarice, the detestable love of gold, — which so often 
induces men to forge false notes and deeds, or to alter true ones, 
thus becoming guilty of the dreadful crime of forgery, a species of 
False Testimony inexpressibly odious to God. 

Profit, my Brethren, by this instruction ; I regard it as one of 
the utmost importance. Never bear false witness against your 
neighbor ; if you do, you act against the great precept of charity, 
and the Holy Ghost warns us that God will not let go unpunished 
the man who commits this crime. Never cease to love and practice 



DETRACTION. 289 

the beautiful virtue of justice. Look on your neighbor as another 
self; try to be useful to him, — condole with him in his misfortunes 
and sorrows, and rejoice with him in his good success. Acting 
thus, God will be glorified in your life, — He will love you, and will 
one day bring you to heaven, there to recompense the virtues you 
will have practiced on earth. — Amen. 



SERMON LIX. 

EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.— (Continued.) 

DETRACTION. 



"Nor railers, nor extortioners shall possess the kingdom of God." — 1 Co- 
rinthians, vi : 10. 

Nothing is more common in the world than Detraction. The sin 
is so easily committed, and the tongue, which is the cause of it so 
readily set in motion, that the habit of speaking evil against another 
is hard to overcome. The Apostle St. James, speaking of this vice, 
says: "Every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and 
of the rest, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind ; but the 
tongue no man can tame; a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 
The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, being set on fire by hell."* 
A fire, my Brethren, which burns without consuming, which acts 
only on sOuls, and which blackens what it can not destroy. Let 
no word therefore ever fall from our lips without being carefully 
weighed and examined. Yet, how numerous are the faults com- 
mitted by our unguarded tongue ! We may say that Detraction 
is almost a universal vice. But, the more common the sin is, the 
greater is the necessity for combating it. This is what I propose 
to do in this instruction. 

* St. James, iii : 6, 7, 8. 



290 SHORT SERMONS. 

Detraction is the unjust defamation of our neighbor. It includes 
suspicions, doubts, rash judgments, slander and calumny. It is 
concerning the two last named sins that I wish to speak to you 
to-day ; but before making known to you their baseness and enor- 
mity, I must tell you in what they essentially consist. 

What is calumny ? and what is Detraction ? To calumniate is to 
attribute to our neighbor faults which he has not committed, or 
defects and vices to which he is not subject. To detract is to 
reveal without necessity the hidden faults, vices or defects of our 
neighbor ; it is to divulge blameable things which our neighbor has 
indeed done, but which would have remained secret or been but 
little known. Those people deceive themselves, who imagine that 
they do not sin when they go about relating whatever evil they know 
concerning their neighbors, because what they say happens to be 
true. Such a person has fallen into sin, — that man has been guilty 
of theft, — ^this family do not live in peace, — the husband and wife 
are constantly quarreling. And because these things are true, you 
believe that you commit no sin when you publish them to others. 
Alas ! what enmities, hatreds, disputes and law-suits are the de- 
plorable consequences of these evil reports ! And is it no sin to 
cause such evils ? My Brother, you are laboring under a delusion. 
Do you not hear the voice of charity saying to you : Do unto 
others as you wish them to do to you, — never say of another what 
you would not be willing that they should say of you ; never speak 
of your neighbor without necessity, or when you have something 
good to say about him. " If any man think himself to be religious," 
says St. James, ''not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own 
heart, this man's religion is vain."* They therefore sin who detract 
their neighbor, — they sin both against charity and justice. " A 
good name is better than great riches," says the wise man.f "Take 
care of a good name ; for this shall continue with thee, more than 
a thousand treasures precious and great."]; How highly indeed 
does the honest man value his reputation ! His good name is even 
dearer to him than his life ; nay, he would sacrifice a thousand 
lives, rather than live dishonored. And yet the detractor robs him 
of this dearly prized treasure. Is he not then more criminal than 

* St. James, i : 26. f Proverbs, xxii : 1. i Ecclesiasticus, xli : 15. 



DETRACTION. 291 

the thief who steals his money. When the robber is discovered, he 
is punished according to the measure of his guilt ; but the detractor 
never receives from men the punishment his odious crime deserves. 
Yet, wait awhile, — God will one day give him the full meed of 
chastisement ; He himself says to us : " The slanderer is an abomin- 
ation to men, and an enemy of God. The evil whisperer and 
double-tongued is accursed, for he hath troubled many that were at 
peace. If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that back- 
biteth secretly. The calumniator shall never see God." Never 
will God admit into His kingdom the man loaded with the crime 
of a triple homicide, — and such in truth the detractor is. He has 
inflicted death on his own soul by the sin which he committed ; he 
has given a mortal blow to his victim, by taking away his repu- 
tation, which is his civil life, or by the hatred which he excites in 
his heart, and which causes him to lose the spiritual life of grace ; in 
fine, he inflicts death on those in whose presence he detracts, by the 
part which they ordinarily take in his Detraction. How great the 
wrong done to his neighbor by him who gives himself up to 
Detraction ! What then should a man do to obtain the pardon of 
God, if he has unfortunately fallen into this crime ? 

He must restore what he has taken away, and repair the damage 
which he has caused. If he has calumniated his brother he must 
contradict what he has said, — he must retract the slander ; there is 
no middle course. If he has simply detracted, the difficulty is 
much greater. For, since the evil which ^he has imputed to his 
neighbor is true, he can not say that it was not so, as this would be 
a lie. He must therefore resort to other means ; he must speak 
well of the person whom he has reviled, the more especially if he 
has reason to believe that this method of repairing the evil is more 
agreeable to him, and in order not to renew the recollection of his 
fault. If the Detraction or calumny, beside the wrong it has done 
to his neighbor's reputation, has caused other damages ; for instance, 
if it has occassioned the loss of employment or work, this loss must 
also be repaired : it happens through the detractor's fault, and it is 
the detractor's duty to make reparation for it. 

It is therefore not without good reason that God orders us to put 
a bridle on our tongue as we would on a savage beast. This bridle 
may be broken ; then let this beast be placed within an inclosure. 



292 SHORT SERMONS. 

and lest lie should escape, let a good lock be placed upon the door. 
Along with all this let us set a sentinel to keep continual watch, 
and place upon our lips a guard of circumspection. We may 
imagine ourselves now to be well defended against the temptation 
of Detraction, nevertheless, we will fall into the evil, unless we 
remove far from us the causes which produce it. And what are the 
ordinary causes of Detraction ? Interest, pride, jealousy and hatred. 
Can there be any causes more contemptible ? How justly then has 
the Holy Ghost forbidden us to frequent the company of detractors. 
But is it never allowed to tell the evil which we know of our 
neighbor ? My Brethren, it is not always a sin to make known 
the defects and vices of another. Thus we can and we ought to 
make known the evil which we know of a man, for the benefit of 
another who deserves to be preferred to him whose fault we divulge. 
For example, it is not Detraction to inform a superior of the faults 
of his inferiors, that he may correct them and prevent the disorders 
to which these faults may give rise. It is not Detraction to tell the 
truth to a man who asks information about a servant whom he 
desires to engage, about laborers whom he wishes to employ, or 
about a person with whom he has some intention of contracting 
marriage. Neither is it Detraction to expose the villain, who tries 
by flattery to ingratiate himself with an honest man, that he may 
deceive and dupe him. But in any case always speak of the evil 
with regret, with circumspection, without exaggeration ; exactly as 
it is, and as you know it to be, and only to those persons whose 
interest it is to be made acquainted with it. My Brethren, refrain 
from inquiring into the conduct of your neighbor, for you are not 
permitted to scrutinize the sentiments, the intentions, the actions of 
your brother, or to make efforts to find out what he wishes to keep 
secret. Would you be pleased at a person inquiring into your 
faults with a view to publish them to the world? Surely not. 
Preserve then a charitable silence in regard to the imperfections of 
your neighbor ; God wishes and desires you to bury this secret in 
your heart. The holy king, David, hated Detraction, and he was 
happy in being able to say of himself, that he never sat in the 
company of defamers, and that he never heard them but to oppose 
their fury and cover them with shame. When therefore you happen 
to find yourself in the company of those who speak ill of their 



EVIL SUSPICIONS. 293 

neighbors, how should yon act ? You must carefully avoid taking 
pleasure in their slander or Detraction, — you must, neither by word 
or sign, approve in the least their conduct. If it is your superior 
whom you hear detracting, testify by your silence that his discourse 
displeases you. If it is an equal, endeavor to change the conver- 
sation, or beg of him to discontinue it, and defend your neighbor, 
as far as possible, by giving proofs of his innocence. If it is an 
inferior, you are bound to impose silence upon him. In a word, 
you must practice the great precept of charity : "Do unto others 
what you would wish that they should do to you." But, is it not 
true that we desire that, in our absence, charitable people would 
kindly and courageously stand up in defense of our reputation. 
Let us therefore act in the same way toward our brethren. 

Ah ! Lord, put a bridle on our tongues and a guard of circum- 
spection on our lips. Preserve our hearts from guile, and fill them 
with discretion, truth and charity. Permit not our tongues to utter 
those malicious words which strike alike him who speaks them, him 
who hears them, and him against whom they are spoken. May we 
rather, by the wisdom of our conversations, merit the great happi- 
ness of praising and blessing Thee for everlasting ages. — Amen. 



SERMON LX. 

EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.— (Continued.) 

EVIL SUSPICIONS AND RASH JUDGMENTS. 



"Judge not, and you shall not be judged." — St. Luke, vi : 37. 

Perfectly to fulfill the Eighth Commandment of God, it is not 
enough to abstain from all calumny and detraction ; we must also 
take care not to suspect our neighbor unjustly, not to put a bad 
interpretation on his actions, and not to judge him rashly. Never- 
theless, it must be confessed, these sins are very common among 



294 SHOKT SERMONS. 

men ; nay, even among Christians, who ought to love one another 
like brothers. To form Evil Suspicions and Rash Judgments, are 
faults contrary alike to charity and justice. God grant, my Breth- 
ren, that I inspire you with a salutary resolution of flying these 
sins. 

What is a rash judgment ? It is a bold, precipitate judgment, 
formed interiorly, to the disadvantage of our neighbor, without any 
lawful reason. It differs from mere suspicion, which consists in 
conceiving too lightly a bad opinion of one's neighbor without how- 
ever being positively certain of it. An example will serve to make 
my meaning clearer. You find out that you have been robbed, 
and you make up your mind to watch for the thief till daybreak. 
It happens that some man stops before your house, — and you begin 
to think that he is the person who robbed you. As yet, this is but 
a simple suspicion. But, in place of rejecting it, you entertain it, — 
you suffer it to grow strong in your mind, all the while resting on 
nought but light appearances. This suspicion is bad, for you have 
not sufficiently solid grounds for lawfully suspecting the probity 
of this man. At last you believe and feel convinced that he is the 
thief: — you pass a rash judgment, for you have not sufficient reason, 
you have not a motive sufficiently strong to determine a prudent 
man. Rash judgment in matters of moment is a mortal sin when 
it is fully deliberate ; for it grievously wounds the reputation of 
another, and consequently, justice. 

We have no right to do to another what we are unwilling to 
suffer from others. But who among us would be willing to have 
his actions judged, as he undertakes to judge those of others ? Who 
would be willing to have a bad interpretation put on his conduct, as 
he dares to ill-interpret the conduct of his neighbor ? Every man 
has a natural right to our esteem as long as he has not committed 
a bad action, — one which we can neither defend nor excuse. We 
are not permitted to suspect his virtue and his honesty, or to pass a 
disadvantageous judgment on him before we have acquired a perfect 
knowledge of the sentiments of his heart, — and that we know for a 
certainty the intention which directs him, the end which he proposes 
to himself to gain, and the motives which actuate him to do this 
action or omit this duty. You entertain a suspicion about your 
neighbor, — you judge and pronounce that such a man is not trust- 



KVIL SU SIMGIO N8 . 295 

worthy, — is unjust, — such another is a spendthrift and libertine, and 
tliat a third is a miser and usurer ; but, remember that it is not 
enough for you to have seen a man committing a guilty action, or 
that you learn from some evil report that he has done so ; you must 
be certain that it was not committed without reflection, without pre- 
meditation, by surprise, that he has not repented for it, has not been 
converted, and that there still reigns in him the sad will of con- 
tinuing to live in disorder and crime. But, you say to me, I can 
not know this : — that is true, for these are things which take place 
in the heart of man, — and it is not given to you to look into 
the heart of your neighbor. God alone is the searcher of hearts. 
Do not judge your neighbor then, since you may be deceived. You 
would certainly be much more apt to distrust yourself, if you took 
the trouble to mark down the number of times you really were 
deceived in the space of a single month. You have seen it, you 
say. Trust not to mere appearances, to some indications of guilt. 
We have learned it from persons worthy of credit : Be not so 
hasty in believing evil of your neighbor, no matter who tells you. 
Do you see that young w^oman ? Two old men, two eminently 
honored judges of Israel, have just denounced her, and demanded 
that sentence of death should be passed upon her, asserting that 
they caught her in the very crime with which they charge her. 
She bows her head in silence ; — does she not seem to acknowledge 
herself guilty? Surely, here at least is one you may consider 
criminal. Wait, — do not pass judgment on her ; know that this 
woman is innocence persecuted, — is the chaste Susanna, who pre- 
ferred to die, rather than violate the holy law of God. These two 
old men, in appearance so respectable, are two infamous wretches, 
who, to revenge the resistance which the chaste daughter of Israel 
offered to their abominable design, unjustly accuse her and seek to 
deliver her into the executioner's hands. Do you see that young man 
leaping from the room where a woman in tears cries for help, and 
shows in her hand the cloak which she said that she had torn from 
her vile seducer in his efforts to escape ? What you see and what 
you hear are all against him, but judge not, for after all you may 
be condemning the innocent. In fact, that young man is Joseph, 
the chaste Joseph who fled from the commission of crime ; and that 
weeping woman is the guilty wife of Putiphar. 



296 SHORT SERMONS. 

You see, my Brethren, how little you ought to trust your eyes or 
your ears ; how easily appearances deceive us, and how dangerous it 
is to suspect and judge your neighbor in regard by what you see 
and what you hear. But suppose that your neighbor is truly vicious 
and guilty, as his deeds seem to prove, is it permitted you then to 
judge him ? No, for our divine Saviour has absolutely forbidden it : 
*' Judge not, that you may not be judged."* And the Apostle of 
the Gentiles adds : *' Judge not before the time: until the Lord come, 
who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will 
make manifest the counsels of the hearts. f Who art thou that 
judgest another man's servant ? To his own master he standeth or 
falleth; and he shall stand: for God is able to make him stand. "J 
Therefore, do not usurp the place of God, to whom alone judgment 
belongs. The heart of man is a sanctuary where God alone has a 
right to enter ; He alone can make known its hidden movements, 
penetrate its secret windings, and know perfectly what passes therein. 

Do I by all this mean to tell you, my Brethren, that it is always 
forbidden to suspect and judge your neighbor ? No, Avhen there 
are reasonable grounds for suspicion, and when a person has an 
interest in knowing the truth of the fact, it is lawful to suspect, 
provided he suspends his judgment until every thing has been 
made clear and every doubt removed. For example, you ought 
not, without reason and without motives, suspect your children and 
those under your charge of vice and wickedness: but you discover that 
your son is absent from time to time, that he remains out all night 
and spends his money extravagantly ; you observe that your daugh- 
ter has no more the same discretion and modesty ; you perceive 
that some of your things ai-e missing ; you have then reasonable 
grounds for supposing that there is some hidden disorder, something 
wrong, which requires looking after. You consequently watch the 
conduct of these persons more closely ; you do not express your 
suspicions, but you endeavor to find out how far they are well- 
grounded. Such suspicions, my Brethren, are not sins ; on the 
contrary, you would sin were you to neglect them ; for it is your 
"•.uty to watch over your children and servants and to preserve your 
household goods. But do not lightly suspect, and do not pass 

* St. Matthew, vli : 1. t 1 Corinthians, iv • 5. i Romans, xiv : 4. 



EVIL SUSPICIONS. 297 

judgment without good motives and solid reason ; let us rather 
dread suspicious and rash judgments, as they usually spring from 
evil sources. The first of these sources is the corruption of the 
heart, which causes a vicious man to believe that all men are as 
corrupt as himself. On the contrary, a virtuous man will always 
think well of his brethren. The second source is hatred ; hatred 
breeds contempt, and as soon as we contemn a person, we easily 
think and judge evil of him. The third is the experience which 
a man imagines he has : thus old people are so much the more 
suspicious, as they have seen more wicked men. In fine, tJiere are 
minds naturally malicious, which change every thing into poison, 
and which make no other use of their powers than to decry the 
actions of others. My Brethren, let us drive from our hearts hatred, 
envy, pride and malignity ; let us love one another, and we will 
not be so ready to judge our brethren. No, says St. Chrysostom, 
**he who loves his brother does not condemn him, nor lightly 
suspect evil of him." 

My Brethren, you must all die ; this sentence has been pronounced 
against all men : but what peace, what happiness and confidence 
will you experience in your heart and conscience, if, on your death- 
bed, you can say that you have never judged nor condemned any 
one ! You will then remember that, according to the express words 
of Jesus Christ, those will not be judged and condemned, who 
have not judged and condemned their brethren. Thanks be to 
God ! there are still among us Christians remarkable for this beauti- 
ful virtue : whose charity, ever ingenious, knows how to excuse 
the greatest faults, to take every thing in good part, and always to 
think well of their brethren. These are the men that are truly just 
and according to the heart of God, — who are predestined for the 
happy abodes of eternal glory, which I wish you all from the bottom 
of my heart. — Amen. 



298 SHORT SERMONS. 

SERMON LXI. 

NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS. 

BAD THOUGHTS AND DESIRES 



"Go not after thy lusts ; but turn away from thy own will." — Ecclesiasticus, 
xviii: 30. 

The Lord is the Master of our souls as well as of our bodies ; 
and He requires that our thoughts and desires, as well as our actions, 
should be subject to His law. He is infinitely holy and perfect, 
and He demands of us that we should be holy in our whole being : 
but we can not attain to this perfection, unless we bridle our 
passions and repress our evil desires. Hence, the Lord our God 
prohibits even the thought or desire of evil. His will is written in 
the two last precepts of the Decalogue, which I have yet to explain, 
and which are thus expressed: "Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- 
bor's wife : thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods." Let us 
ask the grace of God, through the intercession of Mary, that we 
may understand well the meaning of these two last commandments. 

To sin by bad thoughts is to think willfully and with pleasure of 
a bad thing, — of a thing which God prohibits. To sin by bad 
desires is to wish, to seek, to desire deliberately and knowingly a 
bad thing, or what God forbids. An impure image is presented to 
your imagination, — a bad idea comes into your mind : if you do 
not reject it, if you dwell upon it with pleasure, if you entertain it, 
you become guilty of a bad thought. You form in your heart the 
desire of doing this bad thing which the thought represents ; you 
desire the possession of this thing which is not lawful for you to 
have ; you wish to commit the sin : this is a bad desire, this is a 
sin. You must not however confound guilty thoughts and bad 
desires with concupiscence, — with the inclination to evil, which is 
the sad fruit of the sin of our first parents, and from which the 
purest souls are not exempt. This unhappy inclination exists in 



BAD THOUGHTS AND DESIRES. 299 

oiir hearts in spite of ourselves, and it is not possible for ns to 
destroy it entirely ; but we should never cease to struggle against 
it ; we ought never to consent to the thoughts which it suggests, to 
the temptations which it raises in us, to the dangerous images with 
which it fills and wearies our mind and imagination ; for every bad 
thought, — every bad desire is a sin in the sight of God, from the 
moment the mind willfally adopts and consents to it. 

It is true, the two last precepts of the Decalogue seem to con- 
demn only desires of impurity and avarice ; because these desires are 
the principal sources of the sins of mankind. But these are not 
the only desires which God condemns. Our Lord Jesus Christ 
reproached the Pharisees for their thoughts of jealousy and hatred ; 
He tells us that He repels from the altar all who cherish against 
their brethren a thought or desire contrary to charity. Was it not 
for a thought of pride that Lucifer was driven from heaven and 
buried forever in hell ? Why also does the Holy Ghost tell us 
that we must avoid every desire of what is evil and prohibited ? 
Because, to consent to bad thoughts, to form evil desires, is to 
expose ourselves to the certain danger of soon falling into the sins, 
the thought of which pleases us. If we do not commit them, it is 
because we have not the opportunity or the means to do so ; but 
the crime is consummated in the heart of him who desires it : beside, 
God, who searcheth our reins and our hearts, and to whom nothing 
is hidden of all that passes in the soul and mind of man, declares 
that he who looks upon a woman with the eyes of concupiscence, 
has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And still, 
alas ! how numerous are these sins and how easily committed ! 
What a multitude of them are conceived in a heart drunk with 
a criminal passion ! How many thoughts and desires at the sight 
of almost every object presented to view ! How many sins com- 
mitted in those designs, those resolutions, those promiscuous assem- 
blies, those secret intrigues, even when they are not successful ! 
Before God, the will is reputed for the deed, and there is sin in the 
mere delectation of the mind and the will, even though there be 
no dishonest external action. Truly, the war w^hich we have to 
maintain against our flesh is exceedingly dangerous ! This miser- 
able body gives birth to a crowd of bad thoughts, corrupt desires 
and sins. 



300 SHORT SERMONS. 

But the sins of thoiiglit and desire, whicli spring from cupidity, 
' — from an ill-regulated love of the goods of this world, are no less 
numerous. 

I know, ray Brethren, that every desire for the goods of others is 
not forbidden : for we can without sin desire to have what others 
possess, when we are willing to acquire it only by legitimate ways, 
and by means which probity and conscienc? can approve. But there 
are desires for the goods of others which are unjust, criminal, and 
detestable in the sight of God. St. Paul says : "They who would 
become rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, 
and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men 
in destruction and perdition."* What pernicious desires are in 
the heart of that man who envies his neighbor ! What criminal 
desires does not God behold in the souls of those merchants who 
wish the ruin of others for the sake of increasing their own busi- 
ness ; who bring about commercial difficulties, or advance the prices 
of provisions for the purpose of enriching themselves, and who, 
that they may sell at a dearer and buy at a cheaper rate, hardly 
suffer any others to engage in the same business which they them- 
selves follow. What unjust desires possess those who wish the 
disgrace of persons in office with the hope of being thereby able to 
supplant them ! Oh, how many crimes originate in the heart of 
man ! From it, as our divine Saviour tells us, come wicked 
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies 
and blasphemies ; it is, in a word, the source of every crime. It is 
to drain this polluted source that God forbids even evil desires, 
thoughts, imaginations, representations and recollections. 

Disabuse yourselves then, you who hitherto supposed that you 
could, without sin, abandon yourselves to bad thoughts and bad 
desires. Alas ! you have but too often offended God : enter into 
yourselves ; do penance ; go with all humility to accuse yourselves 
of your sins ; repair your bad confessions, and return to the grace 
of God, if you wish to save your souls and attain heaven. 

But there are persons who are alarmed, — are disquieted, and 
imagine that when a bad thought comes into their minds they 
commit sin : this is an error, my Brethren, which should disappear 

» 1 Timothy, vi : 9. 



BAD THOUGHTS AND DESIRES. 301 

from ycur minds, if you have understood well what has been already 
said on this matter. We are guilty of bad thoughts and desires 
only when we dwell on them with complacency and deliberately, — 
when we entertain and do not reject them. If we resolutely resist, 
if we repel with energy the bad thought, if we have not voluntarily 
given occasion to it, far from causing us to lose the friendship of 
God, this temptation will render us more meritorious in His sight, 
and increase our rights to His love and favor. We must not hope, in 
this life, to enjoy a peace free from combat. Beside, the sanctity of 
a soul does not consist in being exempt from temptation, but in 
standing firmly against whatever may try its virtue, and cour- 
ageously resisting it. Be not therefore afraid of those thoughts 
which come into your mind in spite of yourself, but reject them as 
quickly as possible ; and you can always repel them if you will 
have recourse to prayer. Say thou like the Apostles : *' Save us, 
Lord, we perish;" and God will assist you to triumph over your 
enemies. Address yourself with confidence to the blessed Virgin ; 
invoking her aid in this short and beautiful prayer: "0 most pure 
Virgin, by thy most holy virginity and immaculate conception, 
obtain for me the grace of purity of body and soul." The Queen of 
heaven will come to your assistance, and your soul will acquire new 
merit before God, each moment of the temptation. Thus it is that 
you should chase away lustful thoughts. You should also struggle 
firmly against the evil suggestions of cupidity. To overcome them, 
learn to be content with that state in which God has placed you, 
and let your desires to become better off in the world be always 
moderate, remaining ever submissive to that paternal Providence 
tnat disposes and conducts every thing in this world. Great 
wealth, — immense riches might perhaps be your ruin. Does not 
Jesus Christ tell us that there are very few among the rich who will 
be saved? "Lay not up for yourselves," He says, ''treasures on 
earth ; where the rust, and the moth consume, and where thieves dig 
through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."* 
Have confidence then in God ; you are His most cherished creatures, 
and He will provide for your wants. 

This instruction, my Brethren, concludes our explanation of the 

* St. Matthew, vi : 19, 20. 



302 SHORTSERMONS. 

Ten Commandments of God, and may the Lord grant that this 
exposition of His holy law may promote His honor and glory, and 
prove beneficial to your eternal salvation. This divine law should 
be engraven on your minds, and I doubt not that you will observe 
it with fidelity. Perform well whatever God commands, then you 
will live in His friendship, and you will attain that great and in- 
effable recompense which the Lord reserves for His faithful servants, 
for Jesus Christ has said : ''If you will have eternal life, keep my 
commandments." May the grace of God always preserve you from 
sin ; may it help and strengthen you all the days of your life, that 
you may glorify the Lord by advancing in the practice of good 
works which lead to the happiness of heaven. — Amen. 



PAKT IV. 

SERMON LXII. 
PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH IN GENERAL. 



'And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and tha 
publican." — St. Matthew, xviii : 17. 

The law of tlie Decalogue is a sacred law, commanding our 
respect by the dignity and sanctity of its author, by the importance 
of the things which are prescribed as well as of those which are 
prohibited therein ; by the great rewards promised to such as fulfill 
it, and by the awful chastisements with which they are threatened 
who transgress its precepts. But beside the commandments of God, 
there are Six Precepts of the Church, which every Christian is 
obliged to observe under pain of mortal sin. I mean to speak to 
you to-day of all six in general. May the Almighty inspire me 
with words calculated to give you a right idea of them, and dispose 
your minds to understand, and your hearts to love the duties which 
I shall point out to you. 

As Jesus Christ was not to remain always visible upon earth. He 
placed His authority in the hands of St. Peter and the other 
Apostles, whom He had appointed as chiefs in His Church, and 
ordained that the power wherewith they were invested should be 
transmitted to their legitimate successors. This authority has been 
perpetuated in the persons of the sovereign pontiffs and bishops, 
and, like the Church, it shall subsist to the end of time, according 
to the promises which our divine Saviour made to His Apostles : 
" Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the 

C 303) 



304 SHORT SERMONS. 

world.* As the Father hath sent me, I also send you," said He to 
His Apostles and their lawful successors. *"'Go ye, and teach all 
nations. f He that heareth you, heareth me : and he that despiseth 
yon, despiseth me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth Him that 
sent me."! Are we then obliged to obey the laws enacted by the 
Apostles and their legitimate successors ? Are we bound to submit 
to and practice the commandments of the Church? Yes, my 
Brethren, "if any one will not hear the Church," said the Son of 
God, "let him be to thee as a heathen and a publican ;" that is to 
say, let him be cut off from the number of my disciples ; let him 
be regarded as a public sinner, as an idolater, without God and 
without hope. How terrible this anathema which the Lord of 
heaven pronounces against those who are rebels to His Church ! 
Let us dread it, my Brethren, and let us obey those who are 
appointed to govern us. "Obey your prelates," says the Apostle, 
** and be subject to them. For they watch as being to render an 
account of your souls, that they may do this with joy, and not 
with grief : for this is not expedient for you." Whoever, exclaims 
St. Cyprian, has not the Church as his mother, will not have God 
for his Father. 

My Brethren, you can not doubt that to keep the commandments 
of the Church is a duty incumbent on every Christian, and to 
violate them in grave and important matters is a mortal sin. 
Nevertheless, what do we daily behold even among those who call 
themselves Christians ? How many there are who imagine that 
they find in the most frivolous pretext lawful reasons for dispensing 
themselves from observing the commandments of the Church ! 
How many Christians, who measure their obedience by their 
inclinations and caprices, and not by the authority of the Church ? 
Some assist at Mass on Sundays and holidays, but pass many 
years without approaching the sacrament of penance ; others attend 
Mass and go to confession at least once a year, but they do not 
scruple violating the precepts of fast and abstinence. Such contra- 
dictions are, alas I only too frequent. 

But, you ask me, why does the Church impose upon us precepts 
which are not found in the Gospel ? Is not the law of the Deca- 

* St. Matt., xxviii : 20. f Idem, xxiii : 19. f St, Luke, x : 16. § Hebrews, xiii : 17. 



PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH. 305 

logue quite sufficient ? The Church, my Brethren, does not intend 
by these precepts to make the yoke of the Lord heavier ; she seeks 
in them only our good, — she has no other view but to promote our 
salvation, — to come to our aid, to sustain our weakness, and stay 
the fatal consequences of our negligence. Our holy Mother saw 
that her children would become remiss in the discharge of their 
duties would continually put off the observance of those command- 
ments, which had no fixed time appointed for their fulfillment, and 
that thus many would live in the forgetfulness of God and the 
neglect of His precepts. To arouse them then from this fatal 
lethargy and preserve them from the awful chastisements which 
God inflicts upon all those who violate His law, she obliged them, 
by express commandments, to comply wdth the will of their divine 
Master. For the rest, the precepts of the Church add to the Ten 
Commandments nothing essential; they are but a simple develop- 
ment ftf them, determining them, to render their observance more 
certain and more easy. But, you say, the duties prescribed by these 
commandments are new ; they are not to be found in the Gospel. 
Undeceive yourselves, my Brethren, all the precepts are in the 
Gospel ; the Church prescribes nothing in her precepts which our 
Lord Jesus Christ had not first formally commanded us, — they are 
only a development, but a perfect development of the evangelical 
law. 

Doe«i not our divine Saviour recommend us to take great care of 
our saJyation, to fly sin and every thing which leads to it ? Does 
He not order us to repent as soon as possible, if we have had the 
misfortune of offending our heavenly Father? Does He permit us 
to delay our return to God, and to defer from day to day our con- 
version, while we know not the hour when we may be summoned 
to judgment ? Has not God told us that the death of the sinner is 
very evil ? Well then, ray Brethren, when the Church prescribes 
that we should go at least once a year to confession, what does she 
do ? She orders us to accomplish the law of the Lord, and assists 
us to satisfy an important duty. The Church commands us to 
receive the holy Eucharist at Easter ; but is it not that we may be 
faithful in fulfilling what Jesus Christ himself prescribes. Do you 
not know that the Son of God himself said to us: "Amen, amen 
I say unto you : Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and 
26 



306 SHORT SERMONS. 

drink His blood, you sliall not have life in you ?"* In ordering you 
then to approacli the Lord's table, at least at Easter, the Church 
imposes no new obligation, she only assists you in fulfilling one 
already imposed by God. The Church commands us to assist at 
Mass on Sundays and holidays of obligation ; in this too she is but 
the interpreter of the will of her divine Spouse. When He insti- 
tuted this adorable sacrifice. He recommended His blessed Apostles 
to renew it in commemoration of Him, without doubt that we 
might assist at it and partake of its benefits. And what can we 
offer more agreeable to God, on those holy days consecrated to His 
worship, than the august sacrifice in which we present to Him the 
body and blood of His well-beloved Son? The Evangelist tells us 
that the road that leads to heaven is narrow and covered with 
thorns ; that if you live according to the flesh, you shall die : but 
if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. 
They that are according to the flesh, relish the things that are of the 
flesh : but they that are according to the spirit, mind the things 
which are of the spirit ; they who belong to Christ crucify their 
flesh with its vices and passions, and bring it into subjection to the 
Spirit.f It was for the purpose of enabling us to perform this 
important duty of mortification that the Church has appointed us 
to fast during the forty days of Lent, on ember days, on the vigils 
of great festivals, and to abstain from eating flesh meat on Fridays 
and Saturdays. It is thus that the precepts which the Church has 
established aid us in accomplishing the commandments of God, 
and serve as means to make easy the observance of these holy laws. 
Now when you consider that the Church is your spiritual 
Mother ; that she has imparted life to your soul ; that she watches 
over you incessantly, and is constantly occupied about your eternal 
happiness ; that having by baptism brought you forth to Jesus 
Christ, her heavenly Spouse, she is charged with conducting you in 
the way that leads to heaven ; that she loves you as no mother 
ever loved her child ; I believe that you will find sufficient motives 
to inspire you with feelings of reverence and submission to all her 
maternal commands, reasons enough for fulfilling strictly all her 
precepts. Remember the promise of the Holy Ghost: "The child 

* St. John, vi : 54. f Romans, viii. 



FESTIVALS OF THE CHURCH. 307 

that has been the joy of its mother will be filled with favors and 
benedictions." Take then the good and salutary resolution of never 
failing in the respect, obedience and docility which you owe the 
Church, the most loving of Mothers, and you will merit the favors 
of her divine Spouse, Jesus Christ our Saviour, who will recognize 
you as His friends and brethren, and who will one day introduce 
you into His eternal kingdom. — Amen. 



SERMON LXIII. 

FIRST PRECEPT OF THE CHURCH. 

FESTIVALS OF THE CHURCH 



" These also are the holy-days of the Lord, which you must celebrate in their 
seasons." — Leviticus, xxiii : 4. 

The Church is invested with the authority and the power neces- 
sary to establish such regulations as she judges proper for extending 
the glory of God and procuring the salvation of her children. We 
are bound, under pain of mortal sin, to obey the precepts of the 
Church. These commandments are founded on the Gospel ; they 
prescribe only what God himself commands, and are but means 
which facilitate the fulfillment of the divine law. We will now 
enter upon the explanation of the commandments which the Spouse 
of Jesus Christ imposes upon her children ; and to-day we will 
consider what the first precept enjoins, which is: "to hear Mass, 
and rest from servile works on Sundays and holidays of obligation. 

What does the Church command us by this precept ? She com- 
mands us to keep holy the Sundays and all festivals of obligation 
which she has established. She requires that we assist at the cele- 
bration of the Sacred Mysteries ; that we abstain from all servile 
works, and that we employ those happy days in religious exercises, 



308 SHORT SERMONS. 

in prayer and in the practice of good works, for tlie glory of God 
and the sanctification of our souls. 

There are some festivals which were instituted by the Apostles 
themselves, and which were always observed in the Church of Jesus 
Christ. St. Augustine justly remarks, that we celebrate two of 
which even the Holy Scriptures make mention : these are the festi- 
vals of Easter and Pentecost. Formerly, there were a great number 
of festivals which were kept holy, but for good and substantial 
reasons, at the request of our bishops, the sovereign pontiffs sup- 
pressed many of these festivals of obligation, and reduced the 
number to four; namely: Christmas, the Ascension of our Lord, 
the Assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary, and All Saints' Day. 
In some dioceses, however, the Circumcision of our Lord, the 
Epiphany, the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin and Corpus 
Christi are still holidays of obligation. 

V^hy then has the Church established these particular festivals ? 
It was to honor Grod by recalling to our minds the principal 
mysteries of our holy religion, — from the contemplation of which, 
our corporal necessities and worldly affairs but too frequently divert 
us ; it was to furnish us with the most solid instructions, by afford- 
ing us opportunity for meditating seriously upon these sublime 
mysteries which have wrought the salvation of men ; it was to 
thank Grod, who is ** wonderful in His saints," and especially in 
His most holy Mother; it was to induce us to imitate those saints, 
to procure for us their powerful intercession ; it was to awaken in 
the hearts of the faithful, piety, devotion and love, and to stimulate 
them to greater exertion in the great business of their eternal sal- 
vation. 

The Lord when He established festivals among the Israelites, said 
to them : You shall keep these feasts every year, on such a day and 
in such a month ; and when your children will ask you why was 
this religious ceremony established, you shall explain the origin of 
it to them. Such, Christian parents, ought to be the lessons you 
should teach your children on all the solemn festivals of the Church. 
You should repeat to them what I am about to tell you. 

The festival of Christmas, instituted in honor of the birth of the 
Saviour of the world, is one of those feasts that can be traced back 
to the remotest antiquity, and which from time immemorial has been 



FESTIVALS OF THE CHURCH. 300 

kept on tlie 25tli day of December. On this day of glad tidings, 
the Church recalls to onr minds the happy moment when God's 
greatest prodigy of goodness and mercy was accomplished, — the 
ever memorable hour on which our Saviour Jesus Christ was bom 
of the blessed Virgin, in a poor stable, near the little town of 
Bethlehem. Surely, there is no day which we ought to celebrate 
with more devotion and holy joy, for on this day a Saviour was born 
to us, and the angels sang the heavenly song : " Glory to God in the 
highest, and peace on earth to men of good will." On this day the 
heavens rained down the Just One, — the earth opened and brought 
forth the Saviour. Man had sinned, and sentence of death was 
pronounced against him ; but behold, the Son of God comes into the 
world, — assumes our nature, — takes upon himself our iniquities, — 
all "of which He will expiate upon the cross, dying upon it for us : 
He comes into the world to redeem the world. On this joyous day 
of Christmas, the priest offers up three times the adorable Victim 
on the altar of the Lord, in honor of the three births of God made 
man. We are not obliged to assist at more than one of these three 
Masses ; but let us, if possible, assist at all ; let us assist at the 
first, in honor of the temporal birth of Jesus, whose festival the 
Church commemorates on this day ; let us assist at the second, in 
honor of the birth of Jesus in the hearts of the just, — the birth of 
divine grace in the soul ; and let us be present at the third, in honor 
of His eternal birth in the bosom of His Father. This divine 
Saviour comes not merely to redeem the world, but also to present 
to the world a perfect model of virtue. Let us then on this day 
remember the immeasurable gratitude which we ought unceasingly 
to testify to our good Redeemer, and let us give Him proofs of it by 
loving Him, by obeying His holy voice, and by walking along the 
path of virtue which He has pointed out to us by word and example. 
When Christmas falls on Friday, there is no obligation to abstain 
from meat ; but the eve of this great festival is always a day of 
fast and abstinence. Those Christians become guilty of mortal sin, 
and render themselves unworthy of the graces which Jesus comes to 
bestow upon them, who, on the vigil of this happy festival, violate 
the law of the Church, and fear not to eat flesh meat in those 
assemblies which, in place of being meetings for devotion and 
prayer, are but too often occasions of sin and scandal. 



310 SHOKT SERMONS. 

The festival of the Ascension, established by the Apostles them- 
selves, commemorates the great day when onr divine Saviour, Jesus 
Christ, went with His Apostles to the mountain of Olives, whence 
He ascended into heaven, and took His seat at the right hand of 
His Father, accompanied by all the holy souls whom He had 
delivered from Limbo. On this solemn day, let us elevate our 
minds and hearts to heaven ; let us remember that there is our true 
country ; let us detach our hearts from the false joys and deceitful 
pleasures of this world, and let us take the firm resolution to labor 
during our whole life to merit the place which our divine Saviour 
has gone to prepare for us in the abode of His Eternal Father. 

The Assumption is the first and most important festival estab- 
lished in honor of the Mother of God. It reminds us of that day 
of triumph and of glory, when Mary was received into heaven as 
the well-beloved daughter of the Eternal Father, as the august 
Mother of the Incarnate Word, and as the immaculate Spouse of 
the Holy Ghost ; of that day when she was declared Queen of 
heaven and earth ; when God, in a manner, bestowed upon her His 
own power, according to the expression of the holy fathers ; of 
that day when she became the channel of His graces, — the mediatrix 
of mankind : all these prodigies are the consequences of her quality 
as Mother of God and the recompense of her admirable virtues. 
To celebrate this festival worthily, we should be careful to thank 
God for the great favors which He has bestowed on the most holy 
Virgin. It is just, right and proper that we should do so, my 
Brethren; for these favors, — these graces regard ourselves, and God 
had us in view when He granted them to Mary. The greater her 
power, the greater and more abundant will be the graces which she 
will obtain for her children ; it ought then to be to us a great source 
of consolation, confidence and joy, to consider the immense glory 
to which the Mother of God is elevated in heaven. 

The festival of All Saints, which is celebrated on the first day of 
November, has been instituted to honor and commemorate, by one 
and the same solemnity, the memory of all the saints who are in 
heaven. To celebrate in a proper and holy manner the feast of the 
glorified citizens of heaven, let us honor in them the benefits, the 
mercies, and the infinite perfections of God, who has crowned them 
in His kingdom, who has made them powerful with His own 



FESTIVALS OF THE CHURCH. 311 

power, glorious with His own glory, and happy with His own 
happiness. The honor therefore which we render them must be 
referred to God ; their glory being the work of God ought to revert 
to God. Let us invoke them as powerful intercessors before God. 
My Brethren, God hears the prayers which the saints address to 
Him to obtain His graces and assistance for us. Let us pray to 
them with all confidence, for they love us. But above all, let us 
imitate their example. The chief devotion to the saints, — the 
summary of their veneration and our piety, consists in imitating 
what we revere in them : pray therefore as they prayed ; despise, 
like them, the vanities of this world, and like them, think of the 
infinite importance of the things of eternity. Aided by their 
powerful intercession, we will be enabled to live and die as they 
lived and died, and like them, we will obtain the crown of immor- 
tality and of glory. Christians, you desire, no doubt, to celebrate 
properly these great festivals established by the Church and approved 
by God. Refrain then, during these holy days, from all sin ; for, 
though we should always avoid sin, we ought to fear and shun it 
with more care on the days consecrated by the Church to the wor- 
ship of God and the veneration of His friends, the saints, because, 
says a holy father of the Church, he who sins on these days, makes 
them feasts of the devil, and not festivals of the Lord. On the 
vigils of those days, purify your hearts by an humble confession of 
your sins, that you may, on the festival, worthily receive the sacred 
body of Jesus, and open for yourselves an abundant source of 
graces and blessings. Assist piously at all the religious exercises 
of your parish Church, — at the High Mass, and at Vespers ; per- 
form some special work of charity to honor God and imitate the 
saints. Sanctify, in this manner, all the festivals of the Church, 
you will work out your salvation, and, by the mercy of God, you also 
will arrive at the glorious abode of the saints in heaven. — Amen. 



312 SHORT SERMONS. 

SEEMON LXIY. 

SECOND PRECEPT OP THE CHUKCH. 

EXCELLENCE AND END OP THE SACRIFICE 
OF THE MASS. 



"From the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among 
the Gentiles ; and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is oifered to my 
name a clean oblation." — Malachias, i : 11. 

It was the custom of the primitive Christians, even in the life- 
time of the Apostles, to assemble on Sundays to assist at the holy 
Sacrifice of the Mass, and partake of the body and blood of Jesus 
Christ. Because, assisting at Mass being the holiest action, that 
by which we can contribute most to the glory of God and the 
salvation of our souls, it is especially by it that we must sanctify 
the holy days consecrated to the service of the Lord. This is the 
reason why the Church commands us " to hear Mass on Sundays 
and holidays of obligation." I doubt not, my Brethren, that you 
will be disposed to comply with this precept when you shall have 
learned the excellence of the august sacrifice of our altars. 

The Mass is the sacrifice of the new law, in which Jesus Christ, 
by the ministry of priests, offers himself under the appearance of 
bread and wine, to God, to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross, 
and to apply to us its merits. 

There is nothing more sacred, more venerable, more worthy of 
the majesty and grandeur of God, than the Sacrifice of the Mass, 
whether we consider it in its essence, or view it in the effects which 
it produces. 

He to whom it is offered is a God ; He who is offered is himself 
God ; He who makes the offering is equally a God. 

"In everyplace there is sacrifice> and there is offered to My name 
a clean oblation," says the Lord. In truth, from one end of the 



S A C R I F I C E (J F T II E M A 8 S . 313 

universe to the other, in every place and on every day, the adorable 
sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ is offered to God, and is 
offered to God alone; for the charge that we offer this sacrifice to the 
saints is a false and wicked calumny of sectarians. Who was ever 
allowed to say, remarks St. Augustine, — I offer this sacrifice to 
you, Peter ; to you, Paul ; to you, Cyprian ? 

The Victim that is immolated to God alone is no other than God 
himself, — the Eternal Word, — the Son of the Most High, become 
the spotless Lamb, whose blood is so precious that it can be com- 
pared to that of no other victim, according to these words of the 
Psalmist : " Burnt-offering and sin-offering Thou didst not require : 
then said I: Behold I come."* Yes, my Brethren, the Victim sacri- 
ficed to God is Jesus, the Son of the Most High, God of God, the 
Lord of lords, born of the Virgin Mary, He who died on the cross 
for our salvation, and to whom be all glory and all honor forever 
and ever. He obeys the words of the priest, descends from heaven, 
dwells upon our altars and becomes a holocaust for our sanctifi- 
cation and happiness. In fine, the Victim, who is God, has as 
sacrificing priest, a God ; for the Apostle tells us, that Christ who 
is offered and who offers himself, is the Eternal Priest, "that He is 
the High Priest, innocent, holy, without spot, and separated from 
sinners." We can then say that He is the sole priest, for the other 
priests are but His servants and His ministers. 

There can be no sacrifice more holy and more august than the 
adorable Sacrifice of the Mass. There is no other by which we can 
more worthily honor and more devoutly adore the Lord our God ; 
for on the altar at Mass, Jesus Christ, who is coequal in glory 
and dignity with His eternal Father, and before whom all grandeur 
is abased, comes himself to humble and annihilate himself before 
God. He who is adored and is worthy of being so, prostrates him- 
self and offers adoration to His Eternal Father. God can not give 
more glory to himself, than that which He receives in the august 
sacrifice of our altars, since in it is renewed the infinite honor which 
Jesus, the God made man, and become like us, and our brother, 
rendered to His Father, when He immolated himself on the cross. 
"A single Mass," says St. Alphonsus de Liguori, "gives more 



♦ Psalms, xxx\x : 7, S. 
27 



314 SHORT SERMONS. 

honor to God, than all the prayers and all the penances of the 
saints, all the labors of the Apostles, all the ardor of the Seraphim 
and even of Mary, whose heart was so inflamed with divine love, 
since we present in it to God a homage consecrated by the divinity 
of His own Son, and since, on the holy altar, a God becomes him- 
self the adorer of God, and offers himself up as a holocaust to 
Him." 

Great God ! though Thou hadst bestowed upon us but one mark 
of Thy bounty, but one proof of Thy love, it would deserve our 
boundless gratitude, since this favor would be the gift of an infinite 
God. And behold how innumerable are the graces which Thou 
hast granted, how immense the blessings which Thou hast heaped 
upon Thy children ! But, poor and miserable sinners as we are, 
Avhat can we do to prove to Thee our gratitude ? Shall we cover 
Thy altars with magnificent offerings ? But every thing that exists 
belongs to Thee. Shall we offer Thee ourselves ? Sinners as we 
are, this offering would be unworthy of Thee. What return then, 
my Brethren, shall we make to the Lord for all that He has done 
for us ? Ah ! we can be as grateful to God as He has been generous 
to us, for we can offer to Him the holy and adorable Sacrifice of the 
Mass; than which there is nothing richer, — nothing greater even 
in heaven ; we can offer Him His own Son, — His well-beloved Son, 
— the object of His divine complacency ! Truly the Mass is a 
sacrifice of thanksgiving, and in it we present to God as much as 
we have received from His bounty and mercy. 

In the adorable Sacrifice of the Mass, where God finds His glory, 
man finds salvation. The Church of Jesus Christ, in the Council 
of Trent, declares that the Mass is truly a sacrifice of propitiation, 
of grace and of pardon. Not that the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, 
like the sacrament of penance, imparts to us the remission of our 
sins, but the august Victim reposing upon our altars as a holo- 
caust for us, touches the heart of God, inclines Him to mercy, 
obtains for sinners the grace of repentance, and for the just the 
remission of the pains due to the sins which they had committed, 
and which they have not yet fully expiated. Though all men 
together were to sacrifice their lives, could they worthily satisfy the 
divine Justice for one fault committed by a creature against his 
Creator ? No ; Jesus Christ alone could satisfy God for our sins, 



SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 316 

by the great sacrifice which He offered to Him on Calvary. But if, 
in the Sacrifice of the Cross, we have acquired a right to the 
merits of Jesus Christ, who died for us, in the holy Sacrifice of the 
Mass we receive the application of these divine merits ; the cross 
is their source, the Sacrifice of the Mass is their channel ; through 
it the n" 3rcies of God flow into our souls. How wretched we 
would be, if we had not this august sacrifice to hinder from falling 
on us the chastisement which our sins deserve ! On our altars, as 
formerly on the cross, our bountiful Saviour is still the Lamb of 
God who takes away the sins of the world, and during the holy 
Sacrifice of the Mass He still says to us : "This is my body which 
is delivered for you ; this is my blood which is shed for you, — and 
for the remission of sins. Come all you that are heavy laden and 
I will refresh you ;" come you poor, unfortunate sinners, — come 
and draw abundantly from the treasures of the Lord, graces to weep 
over your sins, — strength to enable you to rise out of iniquity, — 
help to persevere steadfastly in the path that conducts to heaven. 

Let ns say with the pious author of the Imitation of Christ : 
Alas ! we are nothing, we can do nothing, we deserve nothing ; but 
we can do all things, if Jesus Christ strengthen us ; and we shall 
obtain every thing necessary to work out our salvation, if^we apply 
to Him in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, for He has himself said : 
**My Father, I know that Thon wilt hear me." Come therefore 
with all confidence to the altar on which our divine Saviour is 
immolated ; let us present our desires to this God of goodness ; He 
will present them to His Father, and they will be heard. It is 
difficult, says St. Chrysostom, to obtain at another time Mdiat we 
do not obtain during the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Your prayers 
are then accompanied by those of Jesus Christ ; will the prayer 
of Jesus be rejected ? Oh, no ! the Eternal Father refuses nothing 
to His well-beloved Son, and you will not have the grief of finding 
your supplications refused. Ask much during the holy Sacrifice of 
the Mass, and much will be given to you, for you can not ask any 
thing that is not infinitely beneath the price which you offer for it, 
since you offer Jesus, the Son of God, the equal of His Father. 

How great, — how excellent is the Sacrifice of the Mass ! There 
is no good work so pleasing to God as this holy sacrifice ; nothing 
can so efficaciously disarm His wrath ; nothing can so effectually 



316 SHORT SERMONS. 

subdue the powers of hell ; nothing can procure for man while an 
exile on earth such a rich abundance of graces, or so great relief 
for the poor suffering souls in purgatory. The Mass, says St. 
Chrysostom, is worth as much as the sacrifice of the cross. Have 
a great esteem for it then, my Brethren, and assist at it on Sundays 
and holidays, on every day if possible, and always with piety and 
devotion. This half hour spent in so holy a manner will be most 
profitable to you. It is during it that our good Saviour in an 
especial manner applies to you His merits and enriches you with 
His gifts. During it you will receive from the goodness of God 
His blessings and graces to sanctify your souls, and render them 
Worthy to be one day admitted into the happiness of heaven. — Amen. 



SERMON LXV. 

SECOND PEECEPT OF THE CHURCH.— (Continued.) 

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.— (Contintji!d.) 



*'Do this for a commemoration of me." — St. Luke, xxii : 19. 

We ought to assist at the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to sanctify 
the Sundays and festivals. This august sacrifice is a most abundant 
source of the graces which are so necessary that we may be able to 
lead Christian lives in this world. In this sacrifice we render to 
God the purest and holiest worship of adoration ; in it with Jesus 
Christ and through Jesus Christ, we address to our heavenly Father 
acts of thanksgiving for the blessings which He has heaped upon 
us, and which He ceases not to lavish on us every day. Such, my 
Brethren, is the summary of our last instruction. Yet, we have 
not exhausted this important matter ; I have still to give you some 
advice regarding the manner in which you should hear Mass. 

All Catholics who have attained the age of reason, are bound, 
under pain of mortal sin, to hear Mass on Sundays and holidays of 



SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 317 

obligation. Grave and solid reasons alone will exonerate from this 
duty. Thus we consider, as lawfully dispensed, mothers and nurses, 
who can not leave their children alone without danger ; the sick and 
those who have to take care of them ; old men and women, and 
weak persons whom the inclement weather and the bad state of the 
roads prevent from coming to Church; those who must mind the 
house and who can not be replaced ; in fine, those who are engaged 
in some important affair, which can not be deferred. You should 
not, however, imagine difficulties and dangers, when in reality none 
exist, for you would not be thus excused before God. 

The essential parts of the holy Mass are the Consecration and the 
Communion of the priest. We commit a grievous sin when we 
come so late, or leave so soon, that we miss the Consecration and 
the Communion, or the Consecration alone, or the Communion under 
both species. It is also very probable that we commit a mortal sin 
when we miss the commencement of the Mass to the Gospel inclu- 
sively, and even not to come until the Epistle is finished. We 
ought always, as far as possible, morally speaking, to be present at 
the entire Sacrifice of the Mass. 

Those persons therefore are guilty before God, who by sloth or 
evil habit, devote too much of their time to sleep and the toilet ; 
those who start for the Church only after the last stroke of the bell, 
who loiter on the way, and always arrive late for Mass. You there- 
fore, who amuse yourselves in the ale-house or other public places, 
and never enter the Church until long after the priest has ascended 
the altar, do not comply with the precept of the Church, — in the 
sight of God you are guilty of missing Mass. 

You have come in time however, and have remained until the end ; 
but beside having the intention of hearing Mass, have you been 
really attentive to what has been done during the sacred myster- 
ies ? If you have assisted with willful distractions during a notable 
part of the holy sacrifice, so as not to attend to what is passing 
at the altar, you do not satisfy the obligation which God and his 
Church impose upon you. Endeavor then to overcome the levity 
of your minds and to render involuntary your distractions. Con- 
sider that a God is going to honor you with his divine presence ; 
that He is about to be born in the temple where you worship ; that 
you are called on to adore Him as the shepherds did on the day 



318 SHORT SERMONS. 

of His birtli at BetMeliem ; that He offers Mmself to His Father 
as on the day of His cruel death on Calvary. Oh, how deep and 
ardent should your devotion be ! Our dispositions ought to he like 
those of the blessed Virgin when standing beneath the cross and 
assisting at the sacrifice of the true Isaac, and our modesty ought 
to resemble that of the angels who surround the altar when the 
adorable Victim is immolated. But alas ! instead of coming to this 
holy sacrifice with a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity, 
we assist at it with minds occupied with profane thoughts and 
worldly affairs. How many people, altogether given up to willful 
distractions, let their eyes and their hearts wander on all kinds of 
objects ! How many w^ho chat and laugh, and joke with those by 
their side ! How many who come to Church for the sole purpose of 
exhibiting their finery and their persons to the admiration of others ! 
How many who come not to see Christ, but the young Lazarus and 
the young Magdelene ; not to satisfy their devotion and to give 
good example, but to make the house of God a place of rendezvous ! 
Some there are who, by the indifference of their manner, seem to 
have no thought but that of dissipating their minds as much as 
possible during Mass, and no desire but that of seeing it finished as 
soon as possible. And can these people suppose that they fulfill 
the precept of the Church and render to God the homage which is 
due to His supreme Majesty ? Know that you who act thus compel 
your divine Saviour to address you as He once did the Jews : '*I 
honor my Father, and you have dishonored me."* I immolate 
myself for you, and while I accomplish this great sacrifice, your in- 
devotion and your criminal levity insult and outrage me. No, my 
graces and my blessings are not for you, — you are unworthy of them. 
Most certainly, my Brethren, our prayers can not be moi-e 
favorably presented than when Jesus Christ himself, present on our 
altars, receives them, to convey them to the throne of His Father ; 
are never more capable of drawing on us the graces and blessings of 
heaven than when we purchase them at the inestimable price which 
Jesus Christ himself has offered to obtain them for us. Assist then 
in a becoming and holy manner at this adorable sacrifice ; then your 
prayers will ascend to God as an agreeable incense, and will return 

* St. John, viii : 49. 



SACKIFU'E OF THE MASS. 319 

to 3'ou loaded with the favors of lioaven. Lot us not imitate those 
cold and indevout Christians ; it is not from them, but from the 
Church of Jesus Ciirist that we must learn the true way of profiting 
by the holy sacrifice, and of assisting becomingly at it ; let us then 
hear her teaching. Before Mass commences, become piously recol- 
lected, repel from your hearts every temporal and worldly thought, 
conceive a great idea of the grandeur and sublime sanctity of the 
august mysteries at which you are about to assist ; then follow 
faithfully, and step by step, the priest at the altar; unite your 
prayers with his, make with him, at the feet of your God, an 
humble confession of your sins, opening your hearts to repentance, 
and begging of the Almighty grace and forgiveness. At the 
Gospel, make the sign of the cross on jonr forehead, on your 
mouth, and on your breast, and remember that the true Christian 
believes firmly the truths of the Gospel ; professes, before the world, 
and in spite of the world, the divine doctrine of Jesus Christ, and 
conforms his life to his faith. At the Offertory, uniting your attention 
with that of the celebrant, offer to the Lord all that you have, and 
all that you are ; consecrate yourselves to His service and glory. 
At the solemn moment of Consecration, fall on your knees, pros- 
trate in body and in heart, humbly adore your God, concealed under 
the appearances of bread and wine, and, filled with a holy com- 
punction, acknowledge that it was your sins that nailed Him to the 
cross. At the Communion of the priest, form a true desire of 
receiving also into your heart, Jesus Christ, present on the altar, 
and of nourishing your soul with His body and blood, which are the 
pledge of eternal life. Receive, with respect and devotion, the 
benediction of the minister of the Lord, a benediction which calls 
down upon you the grace of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost. The Mass is finished : you have assisted at the adorable 
sacrifice, — the same as that of the cross ; retire, but let it be like 
the centurion mentioned in the Gospel, who everywhere published 
loudly the glory of the Son of God, and like the blessed Virgin and 
St, John, whose love for Jesus increased in proportion to the sor- 
rows which they beheld Him suffer. Live in the love of God and 
of your neighbor, — in the hatred of sin ; live as you would have 
lived on the day of the crucifixion of the Man-God, if you had 
been present at His adorable sacrifice on Calvary. You are also 



3^U SHORT SERMONS. 

descending the holy monntain, — you have assisted at the same 
immolation, — the same sacrifice ; let your love then for Jesus 
become like theirs, more lively and more persevering. 

To sanctify the days which are consecrated to Thee, and those 
which are established to honor Thy most holy Mother and Thy 
saints. Thou wiliest, Lord ! that we should assist at the august 
Sacrifice of the Mass with respect, with modesty, with fervor and 
attention. On this condition, Thou hast promised us Thy graces 
and benedictions. Yes, my God, henceforth, and every time that 
we shall have the happiness of assisting at these sacred and awful 
mysteries, we will not cease to think of Thee, — of Thy goodness, — 
Thy infinite mercy, — the boundless love which Thou hast for all 
men ; we will never cease to occupy our minds with the holy and 
salutary thought of Thy incarnation. Thy passion and death, which 
are renewed every day on our altars, and we will pray with confi- 
dence, attention and fervor. Such is the resolution which we form at 
Thy feet. Give us grace to be faithful to it, that having been united 
in Thy house on earth, for the purpose of partaking of the fruits 
of the holy sacrifice, we may be united again one day in heaven, to 
partake of Thy happiness and glory. — Amen. 



SERMON LXYl. 

THIRD AND FOURTH PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH. 

CONFESSION — EASTER COMMUNION. 



•' Let a man prove himself ; and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the 
chalice." — 1 Corinthians, ix : 28. 

To sanctify the Sundays and festivals, days specially consecrated 
to the Lord, to His holy Mother and the saints, we must assist at 
Mass with piety, attention and devotion ; we must be present in 
body and in mind, and pray with fervor, if we wish that the blevss- 



CONFESSION KASTEK COMMUNION. '^21 

ings of our bountiful Saviour sliould descend into our souls. This 
is what I exjdained to you in our last instruction. To-day, let us 
learn wliat is required of us by those two pi-ecepts of the Church, 
viz : " To confess our sins at least once a year; to receive worthily 
the blessed Eucharist at Easter, or within the time appointed." 

Experience teaches us that the first use which man makes of his 
reason, is almost always to abuse it, by offending the God of good- 
ness, who has granted it to him. This is why the Church com- 
mands all the faithful who have attained the age of discretion, once 
a year, at least, to confess the sins which stain their souls. She 
leaves to the option of each of her children the selection of the day 
on which he will satisfy this important obligation ; but she expressly 
commands all to approach the holy table during the Easter time ; 
it is proper for us, therefore, to confess our sins at the same time, 
that we may be in a state to make a good and worthy communion. 

If you have had the misfortune to communicate unworthily, after 
having made a bad confession, do you satisfy the precepts of the 
Church? No ; for what the Church requires of us, is a good and 
salutary confession, and a worthy communion. What ! you 
leave the sacred tribunal more guilty than you were before you 
entered it ; you receive your God into a criminal heart, where sin 
prevails; "you eat your own condemnation;" you do not satisfy 
the laws of the Church, — on the contrary, you have immensely 
increased your guilt ! Hasten anew to the feet of the priest, and 
be reinstated in favor with God by a sincere confession of your sins, 
and particularly of the double sacrilege which you have committed ; 
then only will you have complied with the will of the spouse of 
Jesus Christ, — fulfilled the precept, and been worthy of the graces 
and blessings of the Lord. 

My Brethren, there is a very dangerous and a very common error 
about these precepts existing in the minds of men. Many people 
imagine that we are not obliged to go to confession and communion 
more than once a year, because the Church prescribes but one 
annual confession and communion ! The Church, ray Brethren, 
desires to see us often purifying our conscience in the waters of 
penance, and fortifying our souls by partaking of the "living bread 
that came down from heaven ;" but she knows the hardness of our 
hearts, our indolence and lukewarmness ; hence she is content with 



322 SHORT SEBMONS. 

saying to us: *'at least once a year, confess your sins'* and purify 
your conscience ; *' at Easter or within the time appointed," humhly 
approach the table of the Lord. But if you have a true and sincere 
desire to sanctify your souls, you will not be satisfied with going 
but once, — your confessions and communions will be frequent. 

Moreover, do you not endanger your soul, — your salvation, by 
approaching but once a year the sacred tribunal of penance and the 
table of the Lord ? My Brethren, I do not hesitate to assert, that 
whoever is in the habit and disposition of going to confession only 
once a year, is but little prepared to perform well this one con- 
fession ; for it is difficult to perform well what a man seldom per- 
fonns. A good confession necessarily supposes a constant and firm 
resolution to live better for the time to come, to correct our faults 
and keep the commandments : it also necessarily supposes a fixed 
determination of going to confession from time to time, because, 
without this means, there is but little hope that a person will be 
able to execute his good resolutions. 

I may add, that the longer a man puts off his confession, the 
greater is his desire to defer it, and the more numerous are the 
excuses he feigns for not complying with this duty ; for the 
longer confession is deferred, the more do bad habits increase and 
grow strong, and the more difficult is it for a person to free himself 
from them. The longer confession is deferred, the more sins are 
multiplied, — and the more the sinner is accustomed to view them 
without dread and commit them without remorse. See then your 
soul for whole years in sin, at enmity with God, ever suspended 
over the eternal abyss by the slender thread of human life ! Out 
of the twelve months of the year, you pass eleven of them, perhaps, 
in a state of reprobation ! Alas ! your soul is in the greatest danger, 
and you have no wish to escape ! Is this what you call taking cai'e 
of your salvation ? 

There is no doubt about it, my Brethren, God, our Lord Jesus 
Christ and His Church entreat you, and the welfare of your soul 
makes it a duty for you to go often to the sacred tribunal of penance, 
and to approach frequently the holy table of the Lord. It is there 
that you receive graces, light, and strength to resist temptation, to 
struggle successfully against the enemies of your salvation, to know 
and detest the enormity of sin, to appreciate and love the beauty of 



CONFESSION K A S r I<: li COMMUNION. S23 

virtue, and to persevere to the end in the avoidance of evil and the 
practice of good works. 

The Gospel informs us that the first Christians daily partook of 
the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Hence, in the early ages of 
the Church, we count almost as many saints as there were Christians. 
But, alas ! this zeal for the sacred mysteries was not of long dura- 
tion. The love of salvation always diminishing because corruption 
was continually increasing its sway over men's hearts, the time 
came when some remained for many years without approaching the 
sacraments ; while others, to escape the just reproaches of their own 
pastors, went to confess their sins to strangers, and received the 
holy Communion elsewhere than in their parish churches. To apply 
an effectual remedy to this two-fold irregularity, the Church com- 
manded that each of the faithful who had attained the age of dis- 
cretion, should confess all his sins to his own priest, that is, to his 
own pastor, and should reverently receive, at least at Easter, the 
sacrament of the Eucharist, under pain of being excluded from the 
Church of God while living, and of being deprived of Christian 
burial after death. Nevertheless, my Brethren, the present discipline 
of the Church allows the faithful, in some places, to choose for 
their annual confession, any one among the confessors approved by 
the bishop ; but they must not make their Easter communion out 
of their parish, without the permission of their pastor. 

It is right that the children of the same famil}^ should assemble 
around the same table, to eat the pascal Lamb. It is meet to range 
each flock under its pastor, that he may know his sheep. Love 
therefore to place yourself under the eyes of your own priest ; put 
your confidence in him, no one loves you more than he does, no one 
has a greater desire for your salvation and sanctification. Give 
him the opportunity of knowing your souls, for which he must one 
day answer before God. If he knows them not, how can he give 
you the advice and counsel you need to enable you to practice 
virtue ? How can he point out to you the means that you are to 
employ to work out your salvation ? It is your pastor who will 
visit you on your death-bed, and if he does not know you, what 
can he do, and what can he tell you to prepare you well for the 
great passage from time to eternity ? Moreover, why do people go 
in search of other confessors ? Because they dread the exactness. 



324 SIK^KT SEKMONS, 

the salutary admonitions, and the just severity of their pastors ; 
because they fear that he will try them by salutary delays. What 
is the consequence ? You go in disguise and present yourself to a 
priest who is not acquainted with your character ; you make a 
confession most probably destitute of sincerity, humility and re- 
pentance; you deceive the confessor, so that he pronounces over 
you the words of absolution ; in other words, you commit a horrible 
sacrilege, and add another still more dreadful when you approach 
the holy table. Alas ! my Brethren, how many confessions of this 
kind are made in those days which ought to be days of general 
reconciliation with God ! How many impenitent sinners receive 
their sentence of reprobation in the very place where they ought to 
find grace and salvation ! 

Great God ! was there needed a command of thy Church to bring 
men to this august tribunal of mercy and reconciliation? It is 
thyself who presidest in this tribunal, and who callest to Thee all 
poor sinners, addressing to them the tender invitation: "Come to 
me, all you that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you."* 
Yes, Lord ! we will go to Thee, not only once a year, but oftentimes ; 
for we are weak and many are the deplorable sins which we commit, 
but we do not wish to remain in sin, we desire not to be any longer 
Thy enemy. We will then go often to ask Thy forgiveness, to beg 
of Thee to grant us a share of that mercy wherewith Thy sacred 
Heart is filled. We are indeed weak and very much inclined to 
offend Thee; but, divine Jesus, Thou art strong. Thou hast con- 
quered sin, and Thou desirest to come to us to invest us with Thy 
strength, to assist us in putting to flight the enemies of our salva- 
tion, in extinguishing the fire of our passions, to fill us with the 
love of virtue, and make us the children of Thy heavenly Father. 
Come, Lord Jesus, come; or rather, my Brethren, let us go to this 
God of goodness, let us often approach this sacred table, where He 
becomes the food of our souls, let us receive this divine nourishment 
worthily, with love and with humility, for it is the pledge of a 
happy immortality, and Jesus has himself said to us: "He that 
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life : and 
I will raise him up at the last day." — Amen. 

* St. Matthew, xi : 28. 



ON THE FASTS OF THE CHURCH. 325 

SERMON LXVII. 

FIFTH AND SIXTH PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH. 

ON THE FASTS OF THE CHURCH. 



"Behold, now is the acceptable time: behold, now is the day of salvation." — 
2 Corinthians, vi : 2. 

As sinners and as Christians we must do penance. Thougli 
coming from the creative hand of a just and bountiful God, yet we 
can not find happiness on earth ; because we have sinned, because 
we are guilty beings. We are sinners, we must therefore do penance. 
We are the disciples of a Man-God, who has been pleased to make 
himself our model, whose whole life was one long penance, who was 
consecrated to the expiation of our sins, and who addresses to us 
these awful words : ** Unless you do penance, you shall all perish." 
Our divine Lord left in charge to His Church to conduct us in the 
performance of this law of salvation ; hence, she has imposed upon 
us these two precepts : **To fast during Lent, on Ember Days, and 
the eves of certain festivals ; and to abstain from flesh-meat on 
Fridays and Saturdays." We are commanded to abstain from the 
use of flesh-meat on Fridays and Saturdays. Let us make no dis- 
tinction between those days, when the Church makes none.* We 
are commanded not solely, not to eat meat, but also according to 
the regulations determined by our superiors, to retrench some portion 
of our ordinary food, to diminish the number of our meals on 
Ember days, on the eves of certain festivals, and during the forty 
days of Lent. 

NoTK, BY THE TRANSLATOR. — ^It is hardly necessary to remark, that if absti- 
nence is not observed on Saturday in this country, it is by special dispensation 
that we are allowed to eat meat on that day. This dispensation, though at 
present almost if not entirely universal as to place, is still never given but for 
limited periods. It has been lately extended in this ecclesiastical province to 
the year 1870. 



326 SHORT SERMONS . 

We fast during tlie forty days of Lent, according to apostolic 
tradition, says St. Jerome. The Church imposes this fast upon us, 
that we imitate Jesus Christ, our divine model, who chose to fast 
for forty days and forty nights before commencing His divine 
mission in Judea. She enjoins this fast, that, by mortifying our 
flesh, we may be made partakers in the infinite merits which our 
bountiful Saviour acquired by the sufferings which He underwent, 
and by the death which He endured for our redemption. He w^ho 
had no sin of His own, took upon himself our sins, and by doing 
penance for them, condemns those Christians who fear not to mur- 
mur against the holy rigors of Lent, and who, though real sinners, 
seek in the most trifling inconvenience excuses to exempt them from 
fasting. In fine, the Church prescribes this fast that we may pre- 
pare ourselves to receive, in a holy and profitable manner, the body 
and blood of Jesus Christ, and may celebrate worthily the festival 
of Easter ; for, as a holy doctor of the Church says. Lent is the 
great vigil of the greatest feast of the year. 

We fast during the Ember days, because the Church, our mother, 
who has established this fast, wishes us to sanctify by penance the 
four seasons of the year: that we should invoke the blessings of 
the Lord on the fruits of the earth, and that we should testify our 
gratitude to God for the benefits which He has so liberally granted 
to us. As it is on Ember days that ordinations take place, we 
ought on those days to fast and pray, that we may obtain from 
God good priests to conduct, with wisdom and zeal, the flock of 
Jesus Christ. Finally, we fast, to ask from the goodness of God a 
happy season for soul and body. 

The day which precedes a festival is called the vigil or eve, because, 
in the early ages of Christianity, the faithful spent the night before 
a solemnity, in the church, absorbed in prayer. Abuses afterward 
compelled the Church to retrench these pious practices ; but she 
retained the obligation of fasting. Why ? Because she desired 
that we should always be exempt from sin, when we present our- 
selves before the altar of the Lord, so that we might offer to Him 
homages worthy of His divine Majesty and of His holy saints. The 
homage of a pure heart is the most agreeable offering we can 
present to God ; now, penance, fasting and abstinence are means 
of expiation which serve to purify our hearts; therefore, the 



ON THE FASTS OF THE CHURCH. 327 

Churcli wishes us to practice tliem on the approach of her solemn 
festivals. 

It is for this motive also, that she enjoins upon lis to ahstain 
from flesh-meat on Fridays and Saturdays. It was on Friday that 
our divine Lord died for us ; and to sanctify this sorrowful com- 
memoration, the Church requires that Friday should be a day of 
penance for all her children. Saturday was the day on which this 
divine Saviour remained in the tomb ; and abstinence is continued 
on this day in mourning for His burial. We abstain from meat on 
this day, which we consider as the vigil of Sunday, because Sun- 
day is truly the day when the Lord designs to shower down with a 
liberal hand His graces and particular blessings on those who strive 
to render themselves worthy of them. Let us, therefore, atone for 
our many faults, by faithfully complying with the duties of absti- 
nence on these two days of the week, that we may prepare ourselves 
in a proper manner to celebrate the Lord's day, and may be ad- 
mitted to partake of His graces and favors. 

Behold, my Brethren, the holy and salutary intentions which 
induced the Church, our mother, to appoint certain days of fasting, 
— certain days of abstinence, and to command her children to 
observe them, under pain of mortal sin. All of us are obliged, 
under pain of mortal sin, to abstain from eating flesh-meat on fast 
days, on Fridays, and in coimtries where the law of abstinence has 
not been revoked by the Church, on Saturdays also. There is ex- 
ception only in favor of little children, the sick and the convalescent. 
All are obliged to take but one full meal, and a light collation in 
the evening, on fast days. However, the Church grants an exemp- 
tion from this law to young people who have not yet attained their 
twenty-first year, and to all those who toil much and are engaged 
in hard, laborious work. Their labors supply the place of fasts, 
and it will be a meritorious act of mortification, if they offer up 
these labors to God in the spirit of penance. The Church grants 
the same dispensation from fasting to women who are pregnant, 
who nurse or suckle, and to the old and infirm; but they must 
supply the obligation of the fast by additional prayers, by good 
works, and above all, by patience and resignation in their infirmi- 
ties, sickness and sufferings. 

For the exact fulfillment of these precepts of the Chm-ch, is it 



328 SHORT SERMONS. 

sufficient to abstain from flesh-meat on Fridays and Saturdays ? Is 
it sufficient to eat less than ordinary, during Lent and on other fast 
days? No, my Brethren, it is not. To fast well, we must join to 
our abstinence the mortification of our passions and our evil pro- 
pensities ; we must renounce our bad habits and drive them from 
our hearts ; and we must perform good works. Let us join prayer 
to the fasts which we practice, and let us add to them alms-deeds 
according to our abilities. Prayer and alms-deeds are, as it we^-e, 
the two wings which raise our fasts and abstinences even to the 
throne of God, as a holy father tells us. Beside, my Brethi'en, to 
perform well the obligation of fasting, let us join to our abstinences 
the avoidance of every occasion of sin, and let us renounce what- 
ever may flatter our senses, awaken concupiscence, and incline us 
to offend God. 

Do you know how the first Christians fasted ? No doubt, on 
this point, they are more to be admired than imitated; but what 
they have performed is well calculated to confound our delicacy and 
self-seeking, and to shame us for the cowardice we display in our 
struggle against sin and the passions. Not only did they eat no 
flesh-meat and drink no wine or intoxicating liquor of any kind, 
but they abstained from fish, eggs, milk and cheese; they were 
satisfied with some herbs, roots and vegetables ; and they took their 
meal only after Vespers, that is, about six o'clock in the evening. 
In Holy Week, they eat nothing but bread and drank nothing but 
water, and it was not unusual to see those who were robust enough, 
passing whole days w^ithout tasting nourishment of any kind. Fast 
days were spent by them in doing good, in fulfilling with the 
utmost fidelity the duties of their respective states, devoting their 
time to prayer and alms-deeds, and practicing many other good 
works of penance. They retired from the noise and bustle of the 
world, and deprived themselves even of the most innocent recre- 
ations. They lived more like angels than men, and why so ? Oh ! 
because they knew the worth of their souls and the value of the 
good things of heaven; because they felt how much they were 
exposed to sin, and feared the rigors of eternal torments ; it was, in 
fine, because they truly loved the Lord, their God. 

Concluding this explanation of the commandments of God and 
His Church, permit me to address you in the language of Holy 



ON THE FASTS OF THE CHURCH. 329 

Writ: ''Endeavor, my son, to apply all the thoughts of your 
mind to what God has enjoined upon you, and meditate upon His 
commandments. Fear God, and observe His precepts ; for this is 
the whole business of man." In reality, "what doth it profit a 
man if he gain the whole w^orld and lose his own soul ? What 
shall he give in exchange for his soul?" Ah ! lay up treasures in 
heaven, prepare for yourselves a place in the habitation of the 
Lord ; "and if yon will enter into life everlasting, keep the com- 
mandments ;" they are the lamp which will guide you in the dark 
and dangerous path of this life; they are the light which will 
reveal to you the way that leads to happiness. "My son," says 
the Lord, "preserve the precepts of your father, keep them bound 
to your heart, and let them be tied around your neck ; when you 
walk, let them accompany you on your journey ; when you sleep, 
let them guard you ; when you awake, meditate upon them. My 
son, receive my words, and keep my precepts concealed in the 
bottom of your heart; forget not my law ; let your heart preserve 
my commandments ; let them be engraven upon the tablets of your 
hearts ; keep my law as the apple of your eye. Behold, I have 
proposed to you, life or death, benediction or malediction ; choose 
then life," that is to say, the favors, the blessings, the friendship 
of God and the ineffable happiness of heaven ! Take therefore the 
firm resolution of loving and practicing the holy laws of God and 
His Church all the days of your life. We can do nothing without 
the help of divine grace, so great is our weakness ! but Avith divine 
grace all things are possible to us, and God will not refuse it to 
him, who, with heart and soul, like the royal prophet, cries out : 
"0 my God, happy are those who profoundly meditate upon Thy 
law and observe it with their whole hearts ! Give me understand- 
ing, and I will examine Thy law and I will keep it in my heart !" 
Pray thus every day, my Brethren, and the powerful assistance of 
God will come to you from on high ; you will live holy lives on 
earth, and when earth is closed to your sight for ever, you will enter 
into the eternal life of heaven, a happiness I wish you all. — Amen. 



330 SHOKT SEKMONS. 

SERMON LXYIII 
ON GRACE. 



Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat. 
"1 can do all things in him "who strengtheneth me." — ^Phillipians, iv : 13. 

If God demands of us things painful to flesh and blood, sucli as 
the observance of His holy law, watchfulness over ourselves, the 
reformation of our irregular propensities and evil habits, the self- 
denial which penance and mortification impose; in a word, if He 
requires of us, my Brethren, the practice of every virtue and the 
avoidance of every vice, He is not content with making known to 
us His divine will, but He presents to our will motives capable of 
deciding it, and helps our weakness by aiding us to do what He 
commands : this is the work and effect of Grace, the nature, neces- 
sity and different kinds of which, I propose making known to you 
to-day. There is, perhaps, no word which people hear pronounced 
in Christian pulpits, which they find in books of piety, and repeat 
in their prayers more frequently than the word Grace, and yet, per- 
haps, there is no word concerning which they have, in general, ideas 
less clear and less precise. It is therefore a subject well worthy 
your attention, embracing, as it does, a fundamental truth of 
religion, one which we often hear mentioned, but which we never 
sufficiently comprehend. 

The qualities of the body, as health, strength, beauty, the facul- 
ties of seeing, hearing and feeling ; the qualities of the mind, as 
reason more or less enlightened, judgment more or less penetrating 
and sound, memory more or less tenacious, imagination more or less 
vivid and brilliant, conception more or less ready, a soul more or less 
noble and generous, are so many gifts which we have received from 
God, and the good use of which ma}^ contribute much to our salva- 
tion. However, as all these gifts are a consequence of creation, as 
they are only for the present life, and as God grants them without 



ox GRACE. 331 

distinction to all men, to the wicked as well as the good, to the 
children of infidelity as Avell as the children of faith, to sinners as 
well as just, to His enemies as well as His friends, to those who 
insult Him as well to those who honor His name, these are not pre- 
cisely what we call graces, or if by some these gifts are called graces, 
they add that they are purely natural graces, because, to whatever 
degree a man possesses them, they do not elevate him above the 
condition of his nature, and because, by themselves and directly they 
relate only to the present life. We ought to recognize, in these 
different natural gifts, so many benefits, so many favors from God 
worthy of our gratitude, since God owes them to no one ; but, I 
repeat it, they are not properly called Grace. 

The name of Grace is given to certain supernatural gifts, which 
are not a consequence of the life which we have received, but which 
God, through His pure goodness, grants to us in consideration of 
the merits of Jesus Christ, to enable us to attain eternal salvation. 
These gifts are entirely gratuitous on the part of God, and nothing 
in us can merit them. The first Grace which we receive, finds us 
sinners and unworthy of mercy ; it is it which, drawing us from 
that miserable state, elevates us to sanctity according to the measure 
which the Lord grants us, and the degree of our co-operation ; but 
neither the commencement nor the augmentation of this Grace is the 
fruit of our own merits. From the cross of Jesus Christ flows this 
sacred balm which changes the state of our souls, which heals them 
of their wounds, — which washes out their stains. As with our life 
we received through Adam original sin and the inclination to evil, 
so we receive through Jesus Christ reconciliation, sanctity, and 
the means of preserving it. ''As in" Adam all die," says St. 
Paul, "so also in Christ, all shall be made to live."* It is our 
Saviour's merits which repair in us the sad consequences of our 
first father's disobedience, f and the Grace which He merited for us 
by His cross, elevating us above ourselves, and filling up the infinite 
distance which separates the creature from its Creator, after having 
communicated to us a divine life, causes us to produce thoughts, 
affections and supernatural works, which merit for us the happiness 
of seeing God eternally in himself. Such is Grace properly so 

* Corinthians, xv : 22. f Romans, v : 19. 



332 SHORT SERMONS. 

called, such the sublimity of its origin, of its works and of its 
end. If then we do not esteem Grace, it is because we know not 
the greatness of such a gift. **If thou didst know the gift of 
God!"* 

Theologians distinguish two kinds of Grace, both of which are 
proportioned to our wants, and are given us to conduct us to salva- 
tion. They call the one actual Grace, and the other habitual or 
sanctifying Grace. Actual Grace is a supernatural help which God 
grants to our weakness, in particular circumstances, where His aid 
is necessary for us to do good and avoid evil. It enlightens our 
minds and strengthens our will by making us understand and 
accomplish what God requires of us. It is an interior light, which 
points out to us the injustice or the shame of a bad action, to which 
our inclination leads us, or causes us to see the goodness and merit 
of a good deed, to which Grace invites us, and at the same time it 
encourages and aids us to avoid the former and perform the latter. 

There is no one who can not recognize in himself the presence of 
this divine Grace; so numerous are the secret and manifest ways in 
which it acts, to make us enter into the great design of our creation 
and redemption ! Sudden and unexpected impressions, encourage- 
ments, consolations, disquietudes of conscience which we experience 
in spite of ourselves, which we in vain endeavor to stifle, and which 
all our justifications can not calm ; the bitterness and disappoint- 
ment arising from frivolous joys, vain desires, and presumptuous 
hopes. Who that has paid the least attention to himself, has not 
many times heard that interior voice, which, in a thousand various 
ways addresses us, to warn us, to reach our hearts, and bring us 
back to the ways of salvation ? Whence come those fears of the 
judgments of God, that secret shame, that trouble which certain 
acts of your life cause you, and which, nevertheless, have had no 
witnesses but God and yourself? Do these terrors come from your- 
self? Surely not, since you sometimes experience them even in 
spite of yourself, and since, moreover, our natural propensity rather 
inclines us to evil ; but the thought, the desire of good and the 
regret of evil comes to us from actual Grace. Whence also does it 
come, that while reading a pious book, hearing a good instruction, 

* John, iv : 10. 



ON GRACE. 333 

witnessing some act of virtue, or some tragical death or sad event, 
men sometimes feel inwardly pressed or solicited to return to God. 
to put their conscience in order,— to have recourse to the sacra- 
ments ? It is actual Grace, which, assuming all sorts of forms, 
speaks to our hearts, warns us what we must do to attain salvation, 
and when it has excited the will to the resolution of laboring for 
it, aids us to accomplish what it demands of us. Who can com- 
prehend the sweetness of its action on our will? It seeks to 
triumph, but resorts not to violence ; it knocks at the door of our 
heart, but without breaking it ; it desires to have it opened, but 
will not force an entrance. It studies our inclinations to accomo- 
date itself to them ; it watches the favorable moments to insinuate 
itself; it employs persuasion to gain admittance ; it tenders delights 
in order to succeed. my God ! canst Thou make men a present 
better calculated to charm and attract their hearts ?* 

Nevertheless, this actual Grace does not sanctify us ; it does not 
reconcile us with God, but it prepares and disposes us for justifi- 
cation and reconciliation. This happy state of sanctity is the effect 
of habitual or sanctifying Grace. It is called habitual, because, 
whereas actual Grace is a good inspiration, the impression of which 
is not lasting, on the contrary, sanctifying Grace remains in the 
soul, and dwells there in a firm, permanent, uninterrupted manner, 
as long as we lose it not and do not ourselves renounce it, by yield- 
ing to some grievous fault. So that, whether sleeping or waking, 
— laboring or resting, walking or sitting, sick or healthy, or in 
whatever state we be, this Grace continually dwells in us, enriches 
and beautifies our soul, unites it to God by charity, and renders it 
pleasing in His holy sight. It is a participation of the interior 
life, — of .the sanctity of Jesus Christ, and, by the resemblance 
which it makes in us to Him, it renders us in Him the object of the 
friendship and complacency of God. The Holy Ghost, with the 
bright train of all His gifts, dwells in a soul so loved, so adorned, 
and imprints upon all its good works a character of sanctity, which 
mortal sin alone can destroy. 

Happy, — a thousand times happy, — they who live in this state ! 
They serve God, not with fear and disgust like slaves, but with 

* Wisdom, xii. 



334 SHORT SERMONS. 

love, like affectionate children. To serve and please Him, is their 
glory and jov, and the thought of Him, whom they behold in every 
thing, fills them with consolations amid the most sensible pains of 
life. It is in this state of habitual Grrace that we must live, if we 
would live like saints, and it is in this state we must die, if we 
would die as thosa predestined to glory ; for both actual and habitual 
Grace are necessary for our salvation. 

I do not mean to say that a man may not perform, without the 
aid of Grace and by natural strength alone, works conformable to 
reason, — works even morally good, laudable, and worthy of some 
temporal recompense. For, however reason may have been ob- 
scured, and the will of man weakened by sin, he still has suflScient 
light to know at least the first principles of the natural law, and 
sufficient strength to resist some light temptations, and to practice 
some moral works, when he has no great difficulties to surmount in 
doing so. Thus, without the special assistance of Grace, a man 
may be honest, just and equitable in the various dealings of life, a 
reasonable husband, a good father, attentive to his business, even 
generous, and disposed to perform the good works which honor and 
humanity demand. But what I mean to say, my Brethren, is, that 
it is only by the help of Grace that we can perform Avorks useful 
for salvation, and meritorious of eternal rewards. For, in the 
supernatural as in the natural order, there must exist some pro- 
portion between the means and the end : whence it follows that to 
attain a supernatural end, to reach heaven by performing works 
meritorious of it, man has need of a supernatural aid, — of Grace. 
Thus, in the supernatural order, we can do nothing, not even the 
smallest thing, without a supernatural help, — without actual and 
interior Grace. We can not, without Grace, either will or do any 
work pertaining to salvation. "Without me," says Jesus Christ, 
"you can do nothing;"* we can neither have faith nor the begin- 
ning of faith. "No man," says Jesus Christ, "can come to me," 
that is, according to the interpretation of St. Augustine, " can 
believe in me, unless he be drawn," and unless he receive Grace 
"from my Father who sent me ;"f we can neither continue nor 
complete a good act well commenced; for, St. Paul says: "it is 

* St. John, XV : 5. f St. John, vi : 44. 



ON GRACE. 335 

God who worketli in you both to will and to accomplish, according 
to His good will,"* that is, who produceth in you both the will and 
the execution of the good deed. Hence this praj^er of the Church : 
** Prevent, Lord, our actions by Thy inspirations, and aid us to 
execute them by Thy Grace." Neither can we of ourselves prepare 
by repentance to receive the benefits of justification!. " Convert us 
Lord, to Thee ;" says the prophet Jeremias, " and we shall be 
converted;"! nor, in fine, can we overcome temptations, at least, 
such as are violent, nor resist those that are weak, in a meritorious 
manner. Therefore, our blessed Lord has taught us to repeat this 
prayer every day: "and lead us not into temjDtation, but deliver us 
from evil. "J; A man may, indeed, overcome one temptation by fall- 
ing into another ; he may conquer a vice or bad habit by yielding 
to some other vice and contracting some other bad habit; he may 
resist, at least for a time, an evil passion through pride, and to 
avoid dishonor ; these are victories which the spirit of the world 
may achieve ; but Grace having no part in them, and the thought 
of God in no way entering into this resistance. His divine Majesty 
makes no account of them ; while, on the other hand, when through 
motives of religion we resist temptation, that we may not offend 
God and incur His displeasure, and that we may escape the severity 
of His justice, this is a victory which is the fruit of Grace, and for 
which God will be eternally pleased with us. 

Let us humble ourselves then, my Brethren, let human pride be 
confounded at sight of our weakness and total inability to effect any 
good of any value for eternity. Let us humble ourselves for our 
sins, because they are our own work ; let us not glory in our good 
deeds, for they are the works of God in us. Let us be ever on oUr 
guard, lest self-love may rob us of the fruit of them by making us 
attribute to ourselves what belongs not to us ; our entire merit con- 
sists in cooperating, — in obeying the impulses of Grace by the con- 
sent of our will. As we could have had no existence, if God had 
not given us life, or preserved it by His providence, so, neither can 
we acquire that spiritual life which forms saints, nor recover it after 
having lost it, nor preserve it without the help of Grace. The 
commencement of our conversion, our perseverance in good, no less 

* Phillipians, ii : 13. f Lamentations, v : 21, X St. Matthe\r, vi : 13. 



336 SflORT SERMONS. 

than our vocation to Christianity, are all equally above our strength ; 
we never could have attained them by ourselves ; we would not 
have even the thought or desire of them. 

I say more, my Brethren ; although you have been made children 
of God and of His Church by baptism ; although you may have 
preserved your faith in the word of God, and still hope in His 
mercy, no matter how numerous and strong may be the impressions 
of actual Grace you receive ; without habitual Grace, which is the 
fruit of charity, your life is useless, your works are without m^erit, 
and lost for heaven. It is sanctifying Grace which destroys in us the 
reign of sin and establishes in its stead the kingdom of Jesus Christ, 
by uniting us to Him. To impress upon the minds of His disciples 
the necessity of this Grace, our divine Saviour made them this 
comparison : *' As the branch can not bear fruit of itself, unless it 
abide in the vine ; so neither can you, unless you abide in me. I 
am the vine ; you the branches : he that abideth in me, and I in 
him, the same beareth much fruit : for without me you can do 
nothing. If any one remaineth not in me, he shall be cast forth as 
a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast 
him into the fire, and he burneth."* What is it then that gives 
value to our good actions, and places between them and the happi- 
ness of heaven a kind of proportion, which renders them worthy of 
it ? It is the union which sanctifying Grace gives us with Jesus 
Christ. United and incorporated by faith and charity to our divine 
Head, whatever good we perform in this state, under the influence 
of actual Grace, is as it were penetrated, saturated, impregnated with 
His sanctity ; it is elevated to a supernatural order, made worthy 
of being received by God. The infinite merits of the Redeemer 
applied to our works communicate to them a sort of infinity, which 
makes them equal the grandeur of the recompense to which we 
aspire. Why is it, my Brethren, that the fearful punishments 
which the damned endure in hell will be for ever useless to them ? 
It is because they will be forever separated from Jesus Christ, 
mortal sin in which they died, having consummated this deplorable 
separation during their lives. Why, on the other hand, do the 
sufferings of the souls in purgatory serve to expiate their faults ? 

* St. John, XV : 4, 5, 6. 



2s GRACE. 337 

It is because tliey have passed from, time to eternity in the state of 
sanctifying Grace, which venial sin did not cause them to lose ; by 
this sacred bond, they cling to Jesns Christ as members to their 
head, as branches to the trunk of the tree which nourishes them, 
and the merits of His sacrifice give a value to their sufferings. 

Now, mortal sin separates us from Jesus Christ. All our good 
actions, deprived of the supernatural principle which was needed to 
sanctify them, are no more than human works, stained with man's 
imperfections and misery. "■ He that gathereth not with me, 
scattereth,"* says our divine Saviour. It is true, these good works, 
performed by an impulse of actual Grace, may lead to repentance and 
sincere conversion ; in this respect they are useful, and we should 
therefore, never cease practicing them, no matter how great and 
numerous may be our sins. But it is also no less true, that as long 
as mortal sin abides in our soul, the merit of these good works 
abides on earth and will never be able to mount to heaven. Give 
a glass of cold water to a beggar in the name of Jesus Christ, when 
you are in the state of sanctifying Grace, and you shall receive an 
eternal recompense for the act ; but distribute the most abundant 
alms, practice the most exalted virtues, work miracles ; if, when 
you perform these things, you have not sanctifying Grace, not one 
of them all will accompany you into eternity. f And we, my 
Brethren, who exercise among you the holiest functions, who 
announce the word of God, teach others the way of salvation, 
reconcile sinners to heaven, renew daily at the altar the mysteries 
of Grace and benediction, good works of the highest order, whose 
virtues comes not from ourselves, | but in which we participate 
as ministers of the Lord ; but if, I say, we perform them without 
possessing habitual Grace, if the sanctity of our dispositions corres- 
pond not with the sublimity of our functions, what will it profit us to 
have exercised them ? We will have profaned them, and they will be 
one day turned against us. In vain will we say to God on the great 
accounting day : " Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, 
and in Thy name cast out devils, and done many wonderful works 
in Thy name?" We will have to hear the dreadful sentence : "I 
never knew you; depart from me, you that work iniquity. §" 

« St. Luke, xi ; 23, 1 1 Cor., xiii : 1 , 2, 3. |1 Cor., iv ; 1 . § St. Matt., vii ; 22, 23. 
29 



338 SHORT SERMONS. 

Learn from this, my Brethren, the necessity of habitual Grace, 
to render our works, great or small, religious or common, of any 
merit in the sight of God. Oh ! how many actions, good in them- 
selves, have been lost to us during the course of our lives for want 
of this habitual Grace ! Count up, if you can, the numberless acts 
of religion, of alms-deeds, the duties you have fulfilled, afflictions 
you have supported, the kind services you have rendered your neigh- 
bor, which ought to have advanced your eternal salvation, and 
which yet did not advance it, because you were not in the state of 
Grace when you performed them. 

I have now explained to you, my Brethren, the value, and the 
necessity of Grace ; profit by the truths which you have heard. 
Do not forget that if Grace anticipates us, we must, on our part, 
hear and follow its inspirations. Let us not oppose to its loving 
advances the unpardonable crime of resistance and ingratitude.* 

Grace waits for us, — it bears with us for entire years ; but let U3 
fear lest we tire out its patience. There are sinners for whom God 
does not delay, and on whom, for the example of others, He exer- 
cises His just wrath, by permitting them to die in impenitence; 
with regard to those for whom God waits, there is a term, after 
which He waits no longer. 

Grace procures for us favorable occasions; let us not pennit them 
to pass unheeded, lest we never again find them, and that if we miss 
them, there will remain for us but the crime and the misery of having 
once more abused, to our perdition, the goodness of God, who had 
prepared them for us. May God preserve us from this ! — Ajien. 

* Acts, vii: 51. — ^Hebrews, iii ; 7, 8. 



PAET V. 

SEEM ON LXIX. 

ON THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL. 



" And of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace." — St. John, i : 16. 

To enable us to avoid sin, to practice virtue and observe the 
commandments of God and His Church, and to attain heaven, grace 
is absohitely necessary for us, for our Lord Jesus Christ has said, 
*' without me, you can do nothing ;" we need sanctifying grace, which 
is a supernatural and gratituous gift, which dwells in us and which 
renders us jnst, holy and agreeable in the sight of God ; we need 
actual grace, which is a supernatural aid, gratuitously bestowed by 
God to illumine our minds with light and to touch our hearts with 
good impulses. Now, my Brethren, it is by means of the Sacra- 
ments, as the Council of Trent teaches, that all true justice begins, 
is increased, or recovered after having been lost. The Sacraments 
were established to impart to us sanctifying grace, to restore it to 
us if we have unhappily lost it by sin, to increase it when it already 
adorns our soul, and to give to us the actual helps which aid us in. 
accomplishing the holy will of God. The knowledge of the Sacra- 
ments is therefore useful and even necessary for all Christians. I 
proceed therefore to make known to you these powerful means of 
salvation. 

The word Sacrament, which is derived from sacred or holy, is 
understood here as a sign or symbolical rite, established by God for 
men as a means of salvation. A Sacrament is a sensible sign, insti- 
tuted by our Lord Jesus Christ to produce in our souls the grace 
which it signifies. These signs of grace are seven in number, viz : 

( 339 ) 



34:0 SHORT SERMONS. 

Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, 
Holy Orders and Matrimony. They are signs, because they indicate 
or make known to us other things ; they are sensible, because they 
are composed of actions which we see, and of words which we 
hear, that signify to us the invisible grace which they produce in 
souls. In Baptism, for example, we see the water poured on the 
head of the child, we hear the words pronounced by the priest ; 
here is the Sacrament, — the sensible sign : this signifies and leads 
us to understand that, as water washes the body, so Baptism washes 
the soul of all its stains. Our divine Saviour was pleased to have 
regard to the wants of our nature, — to our weakness. Since the 
fall of man, such is his weakness, that it is almost impossible for 
him to rise to the knowledge of spiritual things otherwise than by 
means of sensible ones. It was therefore to assist us in compre- 
hending more easily what His power operates visibly in our souls, 
that the Sovereign Master of all things has been pleased to figure 
and represent this mysterious operation by signs taken from sensible 
things. However, my Brethren, let us not deceive ourselves, the 
Sacraments are signs which serve not solely to show, to indicate 
the presence of invisible grace, but which also produce it in our 
souls when we offer no obstacle to it. 

The Sacraments are remedies capable of purifying us from sin, — 
they are signs of grace which justify us before God ; they must, 
therefore, be effects of a divine power. Jesus Christ alone, true 
God and true man, could have instituted the Sacraments. It was 
only the Man-God, who could have merited for us grace by His 
passion and death ; it was only the Man-God who could unite His 
merits. His satisfactions, and the price of His sufferings to certain 
outward signs ; He alone could form from His blood those divine 
fountains whose waters spring up to eternal life, and who could open 
those channels through which these waters flow into our souls, to 
supply all our necessities, and heal all our infirmities. The Sacra- 
ments could have been instituted only by our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
He alone was able to work this prodigy. What respect ought not 
this dogma of our faith inspire us for these sacred signs of salva- 
tion, since the dignity and excellence of Him who gave them to us, 
infinitely enhance the value and importance of what He has given ! 
With what piety, with what religious awe, but also with what filial 



ON THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL. 341 

confidence onght we not to approach those sacred fountains of life, 
which flow from the sacred side of our divine Redeemer, and impart 
to us abundantly the graces and blessings of the Lord ! 

What graces do we receive from the Sacraments? They give 
us, restore to us or augment in us santifying or habitual grace. 
Baptism gives it, Penance restores it when we have had the misfor- 
tune to lose it by sin ; the other Sacraments increase it in our souls. 
Baptism and Penance are called Sacraments of the dead, because it 
is not necessary that those who receive these should be in the state 
of grace, and because Jesus Christ instituted those two Sacraments 
to bring to life those who are dead, — to give or restore to sinners 
the spiritual life of grace. The five other Sacraments increase this 
spiritual life in us ; they suppose that those who receive them are 
in the state of grace and in the friendship of God ; hence they are 
called the Sacraments of the living, as they render men more just, 
more holy and more agreeable in the eyes of the Almighty. 

Beside habitual grace, which the Sacraments infuse into the souls 
of those who worthily receive them, they also confer another which 
is called Sacramental grace, and which is peculiar to each Sacra- 
ment. This grace is a certain right to receive, according to our 
wants, the actual assistance necessary for us to discharge the obliga- 
tions to which the Sacraments engage us, to surmount the obstacles 
which we encounter in the performance of those duties, and to 
attain the ends for which the Sacraments were instituted. 

In five of the seven Sacraments there are three which imprint a 
spiritual and indelible character upon the souls of those who receive 
them, and which, for this reason, can be received but once. This 
character signifies that we consecrate ourselves to Jesus Christ, to 
be either His servants, His soldiers or His ministers. The princes 
of the earth have their servants ; they have their soldiers to fight 
for them ; they have their ministers to whom they confide the care 
of their states, and all are invested with certain signs or characters 
intended to distinguish them from the servants, soldiers and minis- 
ters of other kings, and by which they are at the same time dis- 
tinguished from one another. Thus, Jesus Christ, the head of the 
Church, has His servants and His children, — the faithful, who are 
members of His mystical body, and who are distinguished from 
infidels bv the character with which thev have been adorned at their 



342 SHORT SERMONS. 

baptisra. He has His holy army, — His soldiers, who combat for 
the faith and defend it against His enemies, — against the impious, 
who attack it ; and they are distinguished from those who have not 
the same honor, by the character which the Sacrament of Confirma- 
tion has imprinted on their souls. Finally, He has His ministers, 
who govern His Charch and distribute spiritual food to His people ; 
these are principally bishops and priests, who are distinguished 
from the simple faithful by the character which they have received 
in Holy Orders. This character, — this spiritual seal stamped upon 
our souls, remains there, forever indelible. For all eternity it 
will serve to glorify him who will have faithfully fulfilled the duties 
of his vocation, during his earthly pilgrimage ; and in heaven, the 
angels shall honor in a special manner, those who are invested with 
it. It will contribute to the torments, and augment the shame of 
him, who, unfaithful to his holy calling, will have neglected its obli- 
gations and duties ; it will serve as a motive to the devils to cover 
with derision and confusion the unfortunate wretches who have been 
honored with this august sign on earth, but who have been recreant 
to their sacred trust. 

Whether the priest who administers the Sacraments, be good or 
bad, in a state of grace or in that of sin, he can not prevent the 
Sacraments from producing their effects, from giving us grace and 
operating our sanctification, if we, who receive them, oppose no 
obstacle to them : because the Sacraments operate by the virtue 
which Jesus Christ has attached to them, — a virtue which consists 
in the application of the blood and merits of this divine Saviour's 
death and passion; and because the Sacraments are like seven 
channels or fountains of salvation, opened by Jesus Christ himself, 
and through which, notwithstanding the unworthiness of the min- 
ister, the adorable blood flows in great abundance, and with it all 
the graces by which we are sanctified. 

Let us, therefore, my Brethren, approach those divine fountains, 
but let us go Avith holy dispositions ; for, to receive the Sacra- 
ments unworthily, is to commit a great sin, — it is to be guilty of 
sacrilege, — of a horrible profanation of our divine Saviour's merits ! 
His blood indeed flows, but it imparts not sanctity and salvation, — 
it cries for vengeance. For example ; in the Sacrament of Penance, 
the sentence of grace is turned into one of reprobation against the 



ON THE SACIiAMENTS IN GENERAL. 343 

impenitent sinners ; the divine nonrishment of the Eucharist is 
changed into deadly poison for the souls of profaners. Oh ! may 
God grant that you never experience this misfortune. You will 
avoid it and receive from God, by virtue of the Sacraments, many 
graces and blessings, if you present yourselves with good disposi- 
tions, if you receive the living waters from the fountains of the 
Lord, into a heart duly prepared. Come often, my Brethren, thus 
disposed, that you may work out your salvation. Have a great 
esteem for these august Sacraments, for they are the richest and 
most generous gifts which God could bestow, — the greatest evidence 
of the love which He bears to sinful men, since it is in the Sacra- 
ments that He gives His merits, — the price of the blood which He 
poured out upon the cross : He here gives himself, — He becomes in 
them the food of our souls, — the pledge of eternal life. So, be 
sure, my Brethren, that they alone keep away fi'om the Sacraments, 
neglect them and forsake them, — who wish to persevere in sin, who 
count it as nothing to be in disgrace with God, who have no care 
for their eternal salvation, and live like pagans, without God in 
this world and without hope for the next. Senseless men ! miserable 
wretches ! 

Be Thou, my divine Savior, for ever blessed, for having opened 
in Thy Church these inexhaustible sources of grace and benediction ! 
By giving us so many means of salvation Thou hast made known 
to the world how much thou lovest us and desirest our salvation. 
Our most ardent desire shall ever be to correspond to the views of 
Thy mercy in our regard. We shall go to draw from these saving 
fountains the living water which purifies the soul from its stains ; 
we shall go there where our treasure is, to seek for light in our 
darkness, strength in our weakness, consolation in our sorrows, 
courage in our combats ; thus will we live virtuous. Christian lives, 
expecting with confidence from Your love, the life of heaven, — 
Yourself, — in a happy eternity. — Aimen". 



344 



S H O K T S E K M (J N S 



SERMOiX LXX. 

ON BAPTISM. 



" Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and tne Holy 
Ghost, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." — St. Johx, iii ; J. 

Baptism being the first of all tlie sacraments, the most necessary 
of all, and, as the holy fathers call it, the door of all the others, 
since we can not participate in them until we have received it, it is 
on this sacrament that we will first fix om- attention. We received 
this sacrament as soon as we entered into life ; but how many are 
there among us who know not the excellence of the grace which 
was conferred upon them at their Baptism ? This ignorance is 
the cause of most of the evils and disorders which prevail in the 
world. Thus, the Eoman Catechism tells us that this is a matter 
of such importance and necessity, that pastors of souls can not too 
often explain it to their flocks. I will therefore endeavor to give 
you to-day as perfect a knowledge as I can of all that concerns 
Baptism, the first and the most necessary of all the sacraments. 

Baptism is a sacrament instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, to 
efface original sin, to make us Christians, children of God and of 
the Church. The Apostle St. Paul calls Baptism a sacrament of 
regeneration, wherein the Holy Ghost imparts to us a new birth. 
When was it that our divine Saviour instituted Baptism ? It was 
three years before His death, when He received the Baptism of 
John in the waters of the Jordan, which He sanctified, and to 
which He imparted the virtue of regenerating souls. 

Baptism is the first of the sacraments, in the sense that it must 
be received before the others, that it introduces us into the Church 
of Jesus Christ, and that it is the door of the spiritual life. No 
one, not even a newly-born infant, can be admitted into heaven 
unless the holy waters of Baptism have purified his soul from all 
its stains. Why so ? Because, as descendants of Adam, heirs of 



ON BAPTISM. 345 

his iDievarication, dead to grace, in consequence of original sin, 
we were born children of wrath, the gates of heaven being closed 
against us. Now we can pass from this state of sin to the state 
of grace, which Jesus Christ has merited for us, only by receiving 
the sacrament of regeneration ; for our Saviour has said : " Unless 
a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he can not 
outer the kingdom of God." Those therefore who have not the 
happiness of being clothed with Jesus Christ, and of being incor- 
j)orated with Him in Baptism, can never have part in eternal beati- 
tude, and against them the gates of heaven remain shut. 

But, if a man can not receive the Sacrament of Baptism, can the 
want of it be in no way supplied ? Yes, my Brethren, the good- 
ness of God is willing that ordinary Baptism may be supplied by 
martyrdom, which is, for this reason, called the "Baptism of 
blood," or by perfect contrition, with the desire of being baptized, 
which is called "the Baptism of desire." A Jew falls sick, — he 
can neither speak, nor move, nor make known what passes in his 
soul. Nevertheless, he seeks the Lord in the sincerity of his heart ; 
he already desires to enter into the Church of Jesus Christ, — he 
repents of his sins, — has a true sorrow for them, — a perfect con- 
trition ; but he dies without having received the Sacrament of Bap- 
tism ; will he be saved ? Yes, for he goes into the presence of God 
with the Baptism of desire, which has purified his soul, and ren- 
dered it holy and spotless. In the early ages of Christianity, which 
were also days of persecution, pagans were to be seen, who, struck 
with the faith, the firmness, and the heroic ^patience of the holy 
martyrs, cried out : " We are Christians," and immediately de- 
livered themselves up to death. They died, children of God, — they 
were baptized in their own blood, — they ascended into heaven, — 
and received from the hands of Jesus Christ the palm of victory. 
Such was also the glorious fate of the infants whom Herod caused 
to be massacred through hatred of the Saviour of the world : their 
blood was shed for Jesus Christ, and the Church honors them as 
the flower of martyrs. But now-a-days, my Brethren, when the 
sword of persecution can no longer strike down the disciples of the 
Saviour of mankind, it is in the Sacrament of Baptism, properly so 
called, that our souls must be first cleansed and purified. And, 
with regard to your children, Christian parents, remember, that by 



346 SHORT s i: a m o n s . 

the extreme tenderness of their age, thej are incapable of conceiv- 
ing the thought of salvation, — the desire of attaining heaven, and 
that they must be regenerated in the holy waters- of the sacra- 
ment. Delay not, therefore, for it is a sacred and indispensable 
duty for you to carry your children to the church and to have them 
solemnly baptized as soon as it can be done without danger to their 
health. It would be a great sin on your part, to deprive them of 
the grace of this precious sacrament, when there exists no necessity 
for delaying it. Beside, life at this tender age is so frail, that it 
is exposed to numberless perils. 

In every sacrament, there are two parts, which necessarily enter 
into its composition and form its substance; this is what theo- 
logians call the matter and the form. They give the name of the 
matter to the things, or the external and sensible actions which are 
used in conferring a sacrament, and the name of the form to the 
words which the minister pronounces while applying the matter. 
Thus, in Baptism, water is the matter of the sacrament, and the 
words : "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost," are its form. 

The matter of Baptism, therefore, is every species of natural 
water, water from the sea, river, marsh, wells, springs, wdiatever 
simply bears the name of water. I beg you, my Brethren, to 
remark here the infinite goodness of our Lord. Baptism being 
absolutely necessary for the salvation of all mankind, without any 
exception, God has chosen as matter for this sacrament, water, 
which is always and everywhere within the reach of every body. 
Moreover, water represents most appropriately the effects of Bap- 
tism ; it washes the stains from the body, and by it, the action of 
this sacrament upon the soul, which it purifies from its sins, is 
sensibly expressed ; water has the property of cooling the body, so 
Baptism has the virtue of extinguishing, at least to a great extent, 
the heat of the passions. 

By another trait of His infinite goodness, which wills that ''our 
names should be written in heaven," the Lord, who appoints His 
priests as the ordinary ministers of Baptism, nevertheless, in case 
of necessity, permits that this sacrament may be administered, but 
without ceremony, by all persons, no matter to what religion they 
may belong. In cases of necessity, Baptism is valid, whether it be 



O F B A l> T ISM. 34:7 

conferred by a Jew, an infidel or a heretic, provided while baptiz- 
ing, he has the intention of doing what the Catholic Church does, 
when she administers this sacrament. 

There is no one among you who may not sometimes be under the 
necessity of giving Baptism : it is therefore highly important that 
you should know the manner of conferring it. I am awaie that for 
the valid administration of this sacrament, one ablution is sufficient ; 
but we must conform to the practice of the Church, which prescribes 
that the water should be poured on the head of the child three times. 
It is not enough to let fall a few drops of water, nor is it sufficient 
to dip the finger or other thing in the water and with this touch the 
child ; the water must be taken in a vase or cup and poured on the 
head of the person to be baptized, taking care that it touch the 
body, for it is not sufficient that it touch the hair or the clothes. 
While you are pouring the water you mirst pronounce the words of 
the form. This is the way you must baptize, if ever you are called 
on to confer this sacrament. You separate the hairs of the head, 
and while saying: " I baptize thee in the name of the Father," you 
pour the water in the form of a cross; at the words, "and of the 
Son," you again pour the water in the form of a cross; and con- 
clude by pouring the water a third time in the same form, while 
saying, "and of the Holy Ghost." It is upon the head that the 
water should be poured, because the head is, as it were, the seat 
where all the interior and exterior senses of man meet ; but in case 
of necessity, the child must be baptized on any member that can 
be reached, when it can not be done on the head, or any other prin- 
cipal part of the body. Yet, it is doubtful whether this baptism 
is valid : you should therefore repeat it conditionally. It certainly 
is null, if one person were to pour the water, while another pro- 
nounces the words of the form : it would also be null, if a substan- 
tial change be introduced into the form ; for example, if the bap- 
tizer were to say: "I baptize thee in the name of the Holy 
Trinity," without expressing the distinction of the three divine 
persons ; for our Lord required that we should pronounce the names 
of the three persons of the adorable Trinity. It would likewise be 
null, if the person who gives Baptism has not the intention at 
least, of doing what the Church does. But, although you should 
have the misfortune of not believing in the efficacy or divine 



348 ^ SHOKT SERMONS. 

institution of the sacraments, altliougli you should have neither 
the will nor the thought of producing grace, or of conferring a sacra- 
ment, nevertheless, you would confer it, provided you had the 
intention of doing what is regarded in the Church as a sacrament, 
and the Baptism which you would thus give is valid. 

May God he forever praised ! His merciful goodness has dis- 
tinguished us from many millions of men, and has called us to the 
grace of Baptism. At its holy font we hecame Christians, there 
we acquired the right to call God "our Father;" "hut when the 
goodness and kindness of our Saviour God appeared : not hy the 
works of justice, which we have done, but according to His mercy 
he saved us, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy 
Ghost, whom He hath poured forth upon us abundantly, through 
Jesus Christ our Saviour : that being justified by His grace, we may 
he heirs according to the hope of life everlasting."* How many 
thousands live and die without Baptism, who will never be admitted 
into heaven ! This misfortune the hand of God has averted from 
our heads, by granting us the grace of Baptism without our having 
ever done anything to render ourselves worthy of it. We were 
born children of wrath, and the holy waters of Baptism have made 
us children of God ! Let the remembrance of the mercies of the 
Lord never depart from our minds all the days of our mortal career, 
and let our lives he ever pure, holy and Christian like, that we may 
merit the happiness of celebrating and singing the praises of our 
Saviour, with the angels and saints in the mansion of bliss. — Amen. 

* Titus, iii : 4, 5, 6, 7. 



OF BAPTISM. 349 

SERMOJ( LXXl. 

SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM— (Coktinued.) 



"According to his mercy he saved us, by the laver of regeneration, and the reno- 
vation of the Holy Ghost." — Titus, iii : 5. 

We are all, as children of Adam, sinners and rebels to God. 
We have inherited his disobedience and. his sin, and consequently 
the punishment which was inflicted upon him. Alas ! the sin 
committed in the terrestial paradise has reduced us to a most 
deplorable state ! We were born in sin, — we were born deprived 
of the grace of God and children of wrath. If death had surprised 
us in this sad state, we would have been forever excluded from the 
happiness of heaven, for the Holy of Holies must necessarily have 
rejected the impure vessel wherein sin was found. But, eternal 
thanks to the infinite goodness of God ! He condescends to receive 
us into His arms on our very entrance into the world. He admits 
us into His temple, to favor us with the most signal blessing of His 
mercy; one of His ministers pours upon us the holy waters of 
Baptism, which makes us Christians, washes and purifies our souls, 
raises them from the grave of sin to the life of grace, by communi- 
cating to us sanctification, justice, redemption, the divine adoption, 
the effusion of the Holy Ghost, eternal life, and the kingdom of God 
himself. Would to God that I could make you thoroughly under- 
stand the effect of this august sacrament ! This is the grace which 
I ask through the intercession of Mary. 

" I will pour upon you clean water," spoke the Lord, " and you 
shall be cleansed from all your filthiness."* Such, my Brethren, is 
the effect which the Sacrament of Baptism produces. It entirely 
blots out every sin which existed in the soul ; it blots out original 
sin, which we brought with us into the world as children of Adam, 

* Ezechiel, xxxvi : 25. 



350 SHORT SERMONS. 

and it blots out all actual sins, no matter how numerous, whicli we 
may have committed before its reception ; it remits beside, all the 
temporal and eternal pains due to these sins. "There is no con- 
demnation," says the Apostle St. Paul, "for those who live in 
Jesus Christ. You were stained with all these iniquities, but the 
waters of regeneration have purified you and you are sanctified. If 
we be grafted in Jesus Christ by the resemblance of His death, we 
are also like Him by the resemblance of His resurrection, which has 
been perfected."* In Baptism, all is remitted, — all is forgiven, 
and God communicates to us here without reserve the blood and 
merits of His divine Son. A Jew, a pagan, a great criminal 
receives Baptism and dies immediately after having received it ; his 
soul ascends to heaven and goes to enjoy the vision of God, for 
there is not the slightest spot upon it. Be Thou blessed, divine 
Savio^lr, who hast merited for us these ineffable graces by Thy 
sufferings and death ! How great the obligation which we have 
contracted, ever to prove ourselves grateful for so much goodness 
and mercy ! Divine Saviour, I will love Thee with ray whole 
heart and with my whole soul. 

After blotting out every stain of sin which disfigured our souls, 
the Sacrament of Baptism procures for us the inestimable gift of 
sanctifying grace, which renders our souls just, holy, beautiful and 
bright in the eyes of God. Precious grace, which, entering into 
our souls, brings us as presents from the God of goodness, faith, 
hope, charity, and the infused virtues, with the gifts of the Holy 
Ghost ! Precious grace, which induces God to adopt us as His 
children ! We were " children of wrath," and we beacme, "child- 
ren of adoption." "Behold what manner of charity the Father hath 
bestowed upon us, that we should be named and should be the sons 
of God."f We have, as Father, according to grace. Him who is 
the Father of Jesus Christ by nature. Jesus Christ no longer calls 
us servants, — He honors us with the name of friends. Even this 
is not enough, — He wills that we should be His brethren; He 
desires that we should be incorporated with Him, — that we should 
become His members, — that we should live with His life ; that we 
should be temples of the Holy Ghost. Yes, the moment the holy 

* Romans and Corintbians. t 1 St. John, iii : 1. 



OF BAPTISM. 351 

waters of Baptism are poured upon our heads, the Holy Ghost 
unites himself to us. The same Spirit, says St. Augustine, who 
formed the body of Jesus Christ in the womb of Mary, gives birth 
to the Christian in the baptismal font. He makes us so many 
temples in which He is pleased to dwell. I repeat it, my Brethren, 
to impress it the more on your minds : by Baptism we become 
children of God the Father, members and brethren of Jesus Christ, 
—temples of the Holy Ghost, and we are made the children 
of the Church, — members of that holy society which our divine 
Saviour came to establish on earth, that He might form His elect, 
and prepare them for the heritage which He so much desires to 
share with them in heaven. By this sacrament then, my Brethren, 
we obtain a right, as children of God and His Church, to partake 
of all the other sacraments, of the holy Sacrifice, of the good 
works and of the prayers of all the faithful, whether on earth, in 
purgatory or in heaven, — to have part in all the graces, — in all the 
benefits common to this divine society. 

What return shall we make the Lord for the signal favors His 
infinite mercy has bestowed upon us ? My Brethren, what this God 
of goodness demands of us is, that we should offer to Him every 
day the faithful fulfillment of the promises which we made to Him 
at our Baptism. What are these promises ? We promised to 
believe in Jesus Christ. We must then believe firmly that He is 
truly the Son of God, who came down from heaven, assumed our 
human nature, and died on the ci'oss to redeem the world. We 
must believe that He taught mankind a holy doctrine, the only one 
which can lead to salvation. We must believe that He left after 
Him disciples whom He charged to propagate His Gospel over the 
entire earth, and that he clothed them with full authority to teach 
all nations, the truths which He revealed to the world. We must 
believe in the Church of Jesus Christ, — the Church founded by the 
Apostles, — the infallible depository of the sacred teachings which 
issued from the mouth of our divine Saviour. You have promised 
to remain ever united to this holy Church, and to obey her pastors, 
the successors of the Apostles, in heart and soul ; it is on this 
condition that Baptism made you members of that mystic body 
of which Jesus Christ is the head, and out of which no one can 
live in the Spirit of God ; for, as St. Cyprian tells us, he who has 



352 SHORT SERMONS. 

not the Church for a Mother, can not have God for his Father. 
Believe then every thing which the Church teaches, for it is the 
doctrine of Jesus Christ which she communicates ; perform well 
what she prescribes, — her will is the will of the Son of God 
himself. 

It must be acknowledged, and we, alas ! experience it every day, 
that the holy waters of Baptism have not destroyed our enemies. 
Satan remains,— and he is always a dangerous tempter ; the world 
remains, — and it is ever full of evils, and of seductions fatal to 
many souls ; ignorance and concupiscence remain, and causes, alas ! 
but too many to fall into sin ! The Lord God does not wish to 
deliver us from this struggle against sin, just as He does not desire 
to preserve us from temporal infirmities. Why so ? That we may 
be reminded whence we have fallen, that we should consider this 
earth as a place of exile, and that, living in the practice of virtue 
and good works, supported by our immortal hopes, we should 
never cease to sigh after heaven, promised to those who shall have 
*' valiantly fought the good fight of the Lord." You must then 
struggle unceasingly, — and you must triumph. You have promised 
not to let yourselves be vanquished, you have promised never more 
to let yourselves be enslaved by the enemy of God : at the holy 
font of Baptism you have renounced Satan ; no longer will you 
have, as master, the father of lies ; you renounced ''his pomps," that 
is to say, pride, avarice, cupidity, ambition, those assemblies, those 
shows, circuses, balls, dances and theaters, where the devil lays so 
many fatal snares for innocence and virtue. You have renounced 
**his works," that is to say, sin, because the devil is the first author 
of sin, — it is he who continually solicits men to commit crime. 
You have therefore renounced all sin and all the suggestions of 
iniquity. Be men of good will, and the God of mercy who has 
adopted you as His children, will not forsake you in the hour of 
temptation ; pray, and the assistance of heaven will be given you, — 
God will combat with you, you will keep your baptismal vows, 
and you will come off victorious. 

My Brethren, to procure you the grace of Baptism, to make 
you His brethren and members, children of His heavenly Father, 
and heaven your inheritance, the Son of God became incarnate, — 
was mad6 flesh, — was bom in misery, — suffered derision, contempts 



OF CONFIRMATION. 353 

and buffets, was crowned with thorns, and died upon a cross ! Oh ! 
I conjure you by the recollection of the mercies of the Lord, to be 
grateful ; love your divine Saviour, and every day of your lives, 
call to mind the extent and the excellence of the great grace which 
you have received at the holy font of Baptism. Remember, and 
often renew the promise which you there made. Be faithful dis- 
ciples of Jesus Christ, who has done every thing to promote your 
salvation ; love Him with your whole hearts, for He loved you, even 
to excess, — even to death, and He has in reserve for you a crown 
of immortality, if you persevere in His love, in His faith and His 
hope. — Amen. 



SERMON LXXII. 

SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION 



" Then they laid their hands upon them ; and they received the Holy Ghost." — 
Acts, viii : 17 . 

By Baptism we died to sin and rose to the life of grace, — we 
received a new birth, and became new creatures ; it made us child- 
ren of God and of the Church. But how weak and frail is the 
life of an infant ! How little is required to take it out of life again ! 
We must then grow in strength, — we must be fortified in this 
spiritual life, — we must become perfect men. To strengthen and 
confirm the new life which Baptism has imparted, is the effect of 
the Sacrament of Confirmation. In it the Christian, become by 
baptism the servant of Jesus Christ, acquires that resolute courage 
which makes him a true soldier of this Man-God. In it faith, 
hope, charity and the other infused virtues, which were, so to speak, 
only in their infancy, receive a salutary increase, and attain to that 
glorious maturity which form the perfect Christian. It is of this 
sacrament I intend to speak to-day. Be kind enough to hear me 
attentively. 

Confirmation is a sacrament which confers upon us the Holy 
30 



354: SHORT SERMONS. 

Ghost with His gifts and graces, to make us perfect Christians, and 
gives us strength to confess openly the Catholic faith. Confirmation 
is the perfection, the plenitude and consummation of the grace of 
Baptism; that is to say, it confirms, augments, and perfects the 
grace which it finds already existing in him on whom it is conferred, 
whether he has preserved his innocence, or recovered it by repent- 
ance. 

Is Confirmation necessary for salvation ? I answer, that this 
sacrament is not so absolutely necessary that a person may not be 
saved without receiving it. It is not so necessary for all men as 
Baptism, nor so necessary as Penance for those who have sinned ; but 
can we, without rendering ourselves culpable, through negligence 
omit receiving a sacrament by which God pours out upon us His 
most precious gifts and abundant graces, and by which we are made 
perfect Christians ? On the contrary, what eagerness to receive 
this sacrament should not Christians display, and how careful you 
ought to be, Christian parents, to make your children receive it. 
There is question of making them grow in grace and of rendering 
them perfect in the sight of God : if you fail in this duty, you are 
guilty before God. Follow then the advice of St. Paul, and 
strengthen your children in the Lord ; clothe them with the armor 
of God himself, that they may be enabled to resist the devil and 
avoid the snares which the tempter continually sets before them. 

The ordinary ministers of Confirmation are bishops. This func- 
tion is reserved to them, because it was reserved to the Apostles, of 
whom they are the lawful successors. 

Let us see how the bishop proceeds in the administration of this 
sacrament. In the first place, he extends his hands over those who 
are to be confirmed ; then he elevates his heart to God and invokes 
Him to send down the Holy Ghost, with His seven gifts. He asks 
for those Christians, who wish to become perfect, the gift of wisdom, 
which makes us love the goods of eternity, detaches our heart from 
the riches of this world and removes us from every thing opposed to 
our last end ; the gift of understanding, which makes us comprehend 
the truths of religion, so far as it is necessary for us to know, con- 
sidering the particular designs which God has upon each one of us; 
the gift of counsel, which makes us choose whatever will contribute 
most to the glory of God and our salvation ; the gift oi fortitude, which 



OF (J O N F I K M A T I O N . 355 

gives us courage to profess our religion openly, to trample nnder 
foot all human respect, to overcome temptations, to resist even at 
the peril of our lives, the fury of persecution ; the gift of knowl- 
edge, which makes known to us the will of God in whatever con- 
cerns our salvation, and discovers to us the dangers which we must 
avoid ; the gift of piety., which unites us to God in a particular 
manner, and makes us embrace with joy whatever relates to His 
divine service ; in fine, the gift of fear, which inspires us with a 
sovereign respect for God, and makes us shun whatever is contrary 
to his holy will. Then the bishop dips His thumb in the holy 
chrism, and anoints the forehead of the person who is being con- 
firmed, in the form of a cross, saying at the same time these words : 
"I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee 
with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Finally, he gives him a slap on 
the cheek, saying to him ; *' Peace be to thee." By this the Chris- 
tian is taught that he must henceforth be prepared to suffer all 
things for his divine Saviour, and that he must preserve his peace 
with God, with mankind and with himself, even amid outrages 
and insults, which he ought to bear with unmurmuring patience. 
The reward of his courage will be peace, — the peace of God, which 
is above all the riches of this world, — peace in life, — peace at the 
hour of death, — peace in eternity. 

The holy chrism, which is the matter of this sacrament, is a 
mysterious composition of the oil of olives and balm, consecrated 
by the bishop. The oil of olives, signifies the grace and effusion of 
the Holy Ghost, which is abundantly communicated to us in Con- 
firmation ; it also signifies the sweetness and power of this divine 
Spirit. The balm, which emits a sweet odor, reminds the Chris- 
tian, thait he is obliged to diffuse, everywhere, the sweet odor of 
virtue ; to be himself, the good odor of Jesus Christ, for the edifica- 
tion of his neighbor. The unction of the holy chrism is made on 
the forehead, which is the most prominent part of the human body, 
to teach the person confirmed a sacred duty, that of glorifying, 
with the Apostle, only in one thing, but a thing which is a scandal 
to the Jews and a folly to the Gentiles, — the cross of Jesus Christ, — 
the instrument of our redemption. 

But, my Brethren, let us proceed to consider the effects which 



35G SHORT SERMONS. 

Confirmation produces in tlie soul. What are they? In the first 
place, like all the other sacraments, Confirmation produces sancti- 
fying grace. It is a grace of increase and perfection, a grace which 
augments in us the grace of Baptism, a grace which strengthens 
us and renders us perfect Christians. Confirmation produces an- 
other effect also, which it has in common with Baptism and Holy 
Orders, namely, it imprints upon our souls an indelible character, 
which is the sign, — the mark of the soldiers of Jesus Christ. 

But w^hat belongs peculiarly to Confirmation is, that it imparts 
to us the plenitude of the Holy Ghost. This divine Spirit comes 
to renew in our souls the wonderful effects which He wrought when, 
on the day of Pentecost, He descended upon the Apostles. He 
descended upon them in a visible manner, but He comes into our 
souls in an invisible manner ; He comes to us with the plenitude 
of His graces and gifts, as when He descended into the cenacle. 
Consider the miraculous change which the divine Spirit effected in 
the Apostles. As much as they were weak and timid, before the 
coming of the Paraclete, so, after His descent did they become firm, 
undaunted, intrepid and immovable in their resolutions. Then they 
openly proclaimed themselves to be the disciples of Jesus, the Au- 
thor of life, whom the Jews had put to death ; they went, everywhere 
announcing to that hard-hearted people that Jesus had risen from 
the tomb, — that they had seen Him, — had spoken to Him, — had 
eaten and drank with Him ; they understood the most sublime 
truths of His Gospel, and to communicate a knowledge of them to 
the Jews and Gentiles, they feared neither scourges, nor prisons, 
nor insults, nor reproaches ; too happy in suffering for their divine 
Lord, they bore the most excruciating tortures, and joyfully under- 
went martyrdom to seal with their blood the testimony which they 
rendered to the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. To them, 
the goods, riches, pleasures and honors of this world, were but dust 
and empty smoke. They desired in this life the cross of Jesus, 
and, in the life to come, the happiness which He had promised them. 

It is the same divine Spirit whom you receive in Confirmation: 
He comes also to give you light to know the truth, fortitude and cour- 
age to practice it, — power from on high to enable you to combat 
against all those who, openly or secretly, lay snares to entrap you, 
and wrest from you the precious treasure of faith ; He comes to 



ON THE EUCHARIST. 367 

help yon to overcome tlie contempt and derision of the impious 
and the libertine, — to raise you above human respect, — to assist 
you in resisting all the suggestions of the devil, and repressing 
the rebellion of the flesh and the emotions of concupiscence. 

But, you tell me, you have received the Sacrament of Confirma- 
tion, and have not experienced in your hearts these wonderful effects 
which I describe. Whose is the fault? It is yours, if yoa have 
received this sacrament in a state of mortal sin, if you have resisted 
the graces of the Holy Ghost, if' you have forced Him, by sin, to 
forsake your souls. If such be the case, do penance, and the grace 
of Confirmation will revive in you, — will sanctify you, — will 
strengthen and render you perfect. 

How powerful is the grace, says St. Augustine, which we need 
to triumph over the world, — its errors and allurements ! It is this 
powerful grace which we receive by the imposition of hands and 
the holy unction in the Sacrament of Confirmation. You have 
received the plenitude of the Holy Ghost, my Brethren, — you have 
been confirmed : be therefore ever grateful to God ; correspond with 
His graces and favors, that you may be courageous and fight like 
true soldiers against all the enemies of your eternal salvation. 
Never be ashamed of the Gospel ; practice your religion ; conform 
your lives to the holy life of Jesus, — your divine model ; walk in 
the footsteps of the Apostles and the primitive Christians, — in the 
path of virtue, and you will obtain the crown of immortality, 
promised to those who shall have fought the good fight of the Lord 
to the end. — Amen. 



SERMON LXXIII. 

ON THE EUCHARIST. 



"Take ye and eat: This is my body." — St. Matthew, xxv^i : 26. 

. We envy the privilege and happiness of those people who heard 
the words of grace coming from the lips of our blessed Lord : we 
envy the happiness of the sick woman who touched the hem of His 



35S S H 11 T 8 K K M O N S . 

garment and was cured ; but, says St. John Chrysostom to us, in 
tlie adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist you see Jesus, you touch 
Him, — you carry Him about you, as Mary bore Him in her sacred 
womb. Without ceasing to be God, Jesus, in the Eucharist, ceases 
to appear as such. He is truly a hidden God, and, as it were, anni- 
hilated under the semblance of the most common food : and all this 
to accommodate himself to our weakness, and inspire us with confi- 
dence in approaching Him. You perceive, my Brethren, that the 
august Sacrament of the Eucharist will form the subject-matter of 
our instruction to-day. You love this adorable Sacrament, — you 
will then, I am sure, listen with attention to w^hat I am about to say. 

The holy Eucharist may be considered as a sacrarnent and as a 
sacrifice. As a sacrament, it is the nourishment of our souls. As 
a sacrifice, it is offered to God by the hands of the priest. I have 
already spoken of this adorable Sacrifice, when I explained to you 
the precepts of the Church : but what is the Eucharist considered 
as a sacrament ? It is a Sacrament which contains, really and sub- 
stantially, the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, under 
the species or appearances of bread and wine. The other sacraments 
contain and produce grace, but the holy Eucharist contains and 
communicates really and tinily the very author of grace and principle 
of all sanctity, — Jesus Christ, — the Son of God made man. 

This august Sacrament receives different names in the Church of 
God. It is called the Eucharist, which means thanksgiving, because 
Jesus Christ, before instituting this great Sacrament, gave thanks 
to His Father, and because this Sacrament is the principal means 
by which we return thanks to God, through Jesus Christ, for the 
benefits of redemption and all the favors which we have received 
from heaven. It is called the Most Holy Sacrament, because it is the 
greatest and most august of the sacraments ; the Holy Host, because 
the Eucharist contains Jesus Christ, the Host or Victim immolated 
for the salvation of the world ; the Holy Communion, because it 
unites us to our divine Saviour and communicates to us His graces. 
His merits and His virtues ; the Viaticum, that is to say, the food 
and support of the traveler, because it fortifies the faithful amid 
the toils of their mortal pilgrimage, and gives them strength to 
pass holily from this miserable world to that immortal abode where 
thev will have all thev can desire. 



ON THE EUCHARIST. 359 

Jesus Christ said to His disciples and to the Jews : ''I am the 
living bread, which came down from heaven. If any man eat of 
this bread, he shall live forever : and the bread which I will give, 
is my flesh for the life of the world. The Jews, therefore, debated 
among themselves, saying : How can this man give us his flesh to 
eat ? Then Jesus said to them : Amen, amen I say unto you : 
Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, 
you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and 
drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life : and I will raise him up 
at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed : and my blood is 
drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, 
abideth in me, and I in him."* This magnificent promise was 
soon accomplished. On the very night on which He was about to 
be delivered up to His enemies, Jesus Christ wished to give those 
whom He had loved, the greatest, the most august testimony of His 
love, and He instituted the adorable Eucharist. After having eaten 
with His Apostles the paschal lamb. He takes bread, and having 
given thanks, He blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying : 
"This is my body which is given for you. Do this for a com- 
memoration of me. In like manner the chalice also, after he had 
supped, saying : This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, 
which shall be shed for you."f 

Thus, my Brethren, our divine Saviour, making use of His 
sovereign power, changed the bread into His body, and the wine 
into His blood, and thus gave himself to men as their spiritual food. 
"Take ye and eat," said He to His disciples, "this is my body; 
take ye, and drink; this is my blood." Our blessed Lord can 
not like men, deceive ; He is the God of truth ; if therefore. He 
solemnly declares to His Apostles that His body is really present, 
who will dare henceforth to doubt it? And since He says : " This 
is my blood," w^ho will have the efl'rontery to say : this is not His 
blood ? No, my Brethren, let us not say with the incredulous 
Jews: "This is a hard saying, and who can hear it?" But let 
us with St. Peter, exclaim: "Lord, thou hast the words of 
eternal life ;" let us captivate our minds to the sweet yoke of Jesus, 
— let us hear and believe the word of the Son of God made man. 

* St. John, vi : 51—55. f St. Luke, xxii : 19, 20. 



360 SHORT SERMONS. 

By Him the heavens and the earth were created, — were made out 
of nothing : surely, the same Almighty power can easily cause one 
substance to be changed into another. Nothing is impossible to 
God ; He can therefore cause the bread and the wine to be changed 
into His flesh and blood. Can we doubt it, my Brethren, when we 
consider that every day He changes the bread that we eat into our 
flesh and blood ? The Son of God says : " This is my body, this 
is my blood." Let us repress the pride of our weak intellect, — let 
us believe and adore. 

"Our Saviour added: "Do this in commemoration of me." 
Words of unspeakable love, which, by giving to His Apostles and 
their successors in the priesthood the power of renewing what the 
Man-God had just accomplished, bequeathed to us forever the heri- 
tage of His body and blood. Here then we find the priest invested 
with the power of our divine Saviour ; he speaks in the name of 
Jesus, — he says over the bread and the wine : " This is my body, 
this is my blood," and immediately the whole substance of the 
bread is changed into the flesh of the Son of God, — the whole sub- 
stance of the wine is changed into His blood, and the same Jesus 
who was born of the Virgin Mary, who died for us on the cross, 
who rose again the third day triumphantly from the tomb, who sits 
at the right hand of God the Father, descends on our altars and is 
present under the appearances of bread and wine. He is whole and 
entire in the sacred host and in the chalice ; and when the species 
are separated, or when they are divided, He is present, whole and 
entire under each of the species, and under the smallest part of the 
species of the bread, as well as under the smallest part of the species 
of the wine. 

I say, my Brethren, and such is the faith of the infallible Church 
of Jesus Christ, that our divine Saviour is whole and entire under 
the species of the bread, — whole and entire under the species of the 
wine, as He is whole and entire at the right hand of God, His 
Father. It is true, by the words of consecration. His body 
becomes present under the species of bread, and His blood under 
the species of wine ; but because Jesas Christ liveth, and after 
having risen from the dead. He dieth now no more ; because the 
blood of a living man cannot be separated from his body; and 
because his body and his blood can not be separated from his soul, 



ON THE EUCHAKIST. 361 

it follows that wherever the body of the Saviour is, there also is 
His blood ; that wherever His blood is, there also is His body ; 
that wherever His body and His blood are, there also is His 
soul : and finally, as the divine Word is united personally to 
this body and this soul, so the divinity of Jesus Christ must 
also be necessarily present both under the species of the bread and 
under the species of the wine. What a wonderful prodigy, my 
Brethren! How deserving of our gratitude! '* Where are we?'* 
exclaims St. Chrysostom. ** Heaven has nothing, absolutely nothing 
beyond what the earth has. The earth has become a new heaven ! 
Behold Jesus, whole and entire, lives among us. The God of glory, 
of sanctity and of majesty dwells with the children of men, and we 
have the happiness of being able to adore Him in His tabernacle !" 
Jesus is really, truly and substantially present in the Sacrament of 
His love, and He abides there under the appearances of bread and 
wine, to be for those who worthily receive Him the food which im- 
parts eternal life, — the bread of angels, — a pledge of immortality. 

''This is my body, this is my blood;" Thou hast pronounced 
these words, Jesus, my bountiful Saviour ! and we believe them 
with our whole hearts and with our whole souls. We praise Thee, 
we adore Thee in this august Sacrament, in this prodigy of love, 
which Thou hast given us on the eve of Thy cruel death. Thou 
didst wish to dwell with us, because Thou lovest us, because Thou 
wouldst not leave us orphans, alone and abandoned to the dangers 
of this miserable life. Thou, who, while on earth, didst go about 
doing good, still desirest to shower down upon us Thy graces and 
benedictions ; Thou condescendest to be the nourishment of our 
souls, because Thou wishest us to vanquish our enemies, to over- 
come temptation and advance with a firm step in the ways of sal- 
vation. My God, we will often come to lay the homage of our 
faith and adoration at the foot of Thy holy tabernacle ; we will 
frequently come to partake of Thy body and blood, that we may 
receive consolation and grace, strength and courage to do good, to 
fulfill Thy holy will and attain heaven ; for Thou hast said : " He 
who eats my flesh and drinks my blood shall have eternal life."-' — 
Amen. 

31 



862 SHORT SERMONS 



SERMON LXXIV. 

EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE 
EUCHARIST. 



" If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever." — St. John, vi : 52. 

I TOLD you, in our last instruction, what faith teaches, concerning 
the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. You are convinced, no 
doubt, that this august mystery is truly the abridgment of all the 
wonders wrought hy the Man-God, and the grandest evidence which 
He could have given of the love He bears to us. Assuredly, your 
hearts are full of gratitude for the astonishing blessings which the 
divine Word has bestowed upon you. But your gratitude will be 
still more lively, and your love more fervent, when you shall have 
heard explained the salutary effects which the adorable Eucharist 
produces in the souls of those who approach it duly prepared. 

The first effect which the holy Communion produces, is to unite 
us intimately with our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The bread which you daily eat, is united to your flesh, it becomes 
your flesh and makes part of your being. Our Saviour deigns to 
give himself to us, under the appearance of bread, because He 
wishes that His flesh should become our flesh, and that His blood 
should become our blood ; because, in a word, He wishes to unite 
himself to us, — to be incorporated with us. "I am," says He, 
"the living bread, which came down from heaven . . . For my 
flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that 
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abides in me, and I in 
him." **0 man," exclaims St. Chrysostom, "Consider the honor 
which you receive when you come to the table of the Lord ! You 
there eat Him whom the angels can contemplate only with fear 
and trembling; you are united to Him,— ^you become one and the 
same flesh with Him, — one and the same body, as the bread which 
you eat becomes your flesh and body." What do I say? No; in 
the holy Communion, the body and blood of Jesus Christ are not 



ON THE EUCHARIST. 363 

changed into our substance, but it is we who are transformed into 
Him, — He gives us as it were, a new being, — a new life, and makes 
us in a manner partakers of His divine nature ! Well therefore may 
we say with the Apostle : "I live ; no, it is not I who live, but it is 
Jesus Christ, who lives in me ;" He communicates to me His Spirit 
and makes me live with His divine life ! Oh, my Saviour ! what 
return shall I make for so much bounty, — for so much love ? Thou 
art prodigal of thyself, — Thou givest me Thy body and blood! 
Thou givest me thyself, whole and entire ! I wish also to give 
myself entirely to Thee. I wish to belong to Thee without division 
and without reserve. Thou desirest to unite thyself to me, — that I 
should be one and the same substance with Thee, — that Thy flesh 
should be my flesh, — that Thy blood should be my blood : be it so, 
my blessed Lord ; let Thy heart be my heart, let Thy soul be my 
soul, let Thy will be my will, — let me be united to Thee, in heart 
and soul, now and forever. But, Oh my God, shall I be faithful to 
this holy resolution ? I can be, for the adorable Sacrament of the 
Eucharist will support and strengthen me in charity, — in the life 
of grace. 

Without doubt, the Sacrament of the Eucharist, as is clear from 
its institution, does not of itself confer the grace which blots out 
mortal sin, and by which man from being a sinner becomes justi- 
fied ; for this Sacrament supposes sanctifying grace in those who 
receive it. As material bread is intended only to support the life 
of living bodies, and would be of no use to those that are dead, so 
the bread of angels profits only those who live already the spiritual 
life, — who enjoy the friendship of God, and in whom sanctifying 
grace dwells. If in this happy state, you go to receive the ador- 
able Eucharist, our divine Saviour, having come as food into 
your souls, does not abide there without acting; He gives you a 
new increase of grace, — He fortifies you, — strengthens you in His 
love, and enables you to lead a Christian, pious and holy life ; for 
He has said : "as the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the 
Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me,"* 
that is to say, he will lead a life of meekness, humility, patience 
and charity, a life full of virtues, and rich in good works. 

* John, vi : 58. 



364: SHORT SERMONS. 

In the glorious ages of the primitive Church, to be a Christian 
and a saint, was almost the same thing, and examples of the most 
exalted and heroic virtues were continually presented to the world. 
Then might be seen the young maiden joyfully renouncing the most 
advantageous offers of marriage, to become the spouse of Jesus 
Christ, and obtain the virgin's glorious crown ; the young man strug- 
gling resolutely against his passions, — against every thing that might 
draw him into sin ; tender, weak young girls, even children and old 
persons, feeble in body but strong in soul, encountering the rage of 
persecutors, joyfully mounting the funeral pile to be burned alive, 
or permitting themselves to be devoured by furious beasts, rather 
than sacrifice to idols, and prove faithless to Jesus Christ. Whence 
did they get this superhuman strength and this heroic love of God ? 
Oh ! they were persevering in prayer, and the eating of the bread, — 
of that living bread which has come down from heaven, of which 
whoever eats, he perseveres in grace, is preserved from sin and 
dieth not. 

In truth, my Brethren, the holy Eucharist is " a powerful anti- 
dote to deliver us from our daily faults and preserve us from mortal 
sin," as the Council of Trent tells us. Though this divine nourish- 
ment does not entirely place us beyond the reach of temptations, it 
gives us strength to conquer them and makes them a source of merit 
for our souls. The ship which carried the Apostles also bore our 
divine Saviour, and yet it was tossed about by the tempest ; but the 
divine Master commands, — the storm ceases, and immediately tran- 
quillity is restored. In like manner, the holy Eucharist is in our 
souls, and yet our hearts are sometimes agitated and tormented by 
the tempestuous waves of our passions ; but let us have confidence, 
for, when Jesus is within us, says St. Cyril, He will not permit us 
to be shipwrecked ; He calms our passions, animates and supports 
our will, excites our courage, and powerfully helps us to advance 
toward the harbor of salvation, — toward the promised land. Com- 
municate often and worthily, says the same St. Cyril, and this 
divine bread will make you persevere in the grace and friendship of 
God during your whole life, and on the great day of judgment, you 
will rise from death to live forever. Indeed, as St. Augustine 
teaches us, those who take this heavenly food become incorruptible 
and immortal, for our divine Saviour has said: **he that eateth my 



ON THE EUCIIAKIST. 365 

flesh, and drinketh my blood, . . I will raise him up at the last day. 
If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever :" he shall partici- 
pate in the happiness of the saints, or rather he is already happy ; 
for our blessed Lord adds : "he that eateth my flesh, . . hath everlast- 
ing life.'* The holy Eucharist is truly the treasure of the bounties 
of the Lord. 

Jesus Christ speaks, and every disease is cured, — sickness dis- 
appears to give way to robust health ; He touches the coffin, and 
the dead are restored to life ! How then does it happen, that after 
having so often received into your hearts the body and blood of the 
Saviour, you are still subject to the same infirmities, — to the same 
maladies ; that you have not subdued one single passion, nor cor- 
rected one single defect ? Whence comes this misfortune ? There 
is no doubt, my Brethren, that it arises from your not receiving 
the holy Eucharist with proper dispositions. Though you pre- 
sented yourself at the table of the Lord, had you not mortal sin 
reigning in your soul ? Did you not preserve some secret affection 
for the objects of your criminal passions ? What brought you to 
the holy banquet, was it faith, piety, the love of God, the desire of 
uniting yourself intimately to Jesus Christ ? or was it not rather 
mere custom, perhaps even human respect ? Jesus Christ refused 
you His gifts and His graces, because you were not worthy of them ; 
He permitted you to remain afflicted with the same infirmities and 
evils, because you did not wish to be healed of them. 

Let us henceforth go to the table of the Lord with hearts well 
prepared, — with hearts widely open to receive His gifts, His favors 
and graces, and then we will not be refused. Be assured, my 
Brethren, that He will not be content to remain but a few moments 
with you, — but He will abide in you, if you sincerely wish to abide 
in Him,-v-He will unite himself to you, — He will clothe you with 
His power, — will combat with you, — will aid you to subdue your 
enemies, to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of your 
eternal salvation, — He will be your Viaticum, — your support, — 
your consolation during life, and, at the hour of your death, He 
will introduce you into the mansions of His Father, — into eternal 
glory. — Amen. 



366 SHOKT SERMONS 



SERMON LXXV. 
DISPOSITIONS FOR COMMUNION 



" The work is great, for a house is prepared, not for man, but for God." — 
1 Paralipomenon, xxix : 1 . 

Holy Communion unites us intimately to Jesus Christ, purifies 
us from slight faults, preserves us from mortal sin, nourishes, forti- 
fies and confirms our souls in the love of virtue, and serves us as a 
most consoling pledge of a glorious resurrection and immortal life. 
Such, my Brethren, the wonderful graces which Jesus brings to a 
heart well disposed to receive Him. Prove yourselves therefore, 
according to the counsel of the Apostle, before you eat of the 
bread of angels, and remember that the work is great, since there is 
question here of preparing in your souls an abode for the Lord him- 
self. You perceive that I come to speak to you on the dispositions 
which you ought to bring to the table of the Lord, to communicate 
worthily. 

The Sacrament of the Eucharist being the most excellent and 
august of all the sacraments, since in it we receive not only grace, 
but the Author of grace, necessarily demands the holiest dis- 
positions, and exacts them more rigorously than the other sacra- 
ments. Of these dispositions, some relate to the body, and others 
regard the soul. The dispositions which relate to the body, are, to 
be fasting from the previous midnight, and to keep our whole 
exterior modest, recollected and respectful. A constant tradition, 
which can be traced back to the apostolic times, has established a 
strict law, not to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist except 
fasting. Such has ever been the general usage of , the Church, — 
such it is at present, and to violate this law would be to commit a 
grievous fault. The Church admits exceptions only in favor of the 
sick who receive holy Communion as a Viaticum ; she allows them 
to receive the Communion without fasting, that they may satisfy 



DISPOSITIONS F O 11 C O M M UNION. 367 

the divine precept, which obliges them to receive the body and blood 
of Jesus Christ when they are in danger of death. The sacramental 
fast is more severe and rigorous than that which is prescribed on 
days of penance ; it consists in having absolutely taken nothing, 
either solid or liquid, either as nourishment or as medicine, from 
midnight of the day on which we communicate ; it admits no 
smallness of matter with regard to this. Anything which is eaten or 
drunk, whether voluntarily or through inadvertence, is an infraction 
of this law, and prevents Communion on that day. Nevertheless, it 
is not considered a violation of the law, (if something is acci- 
dentally and undesignedly swallowed by respiration.) It is not for- 
bidden then to go to Communion, though, while washing your 
mouth, you happen to swallow a few drops of water which become 
mixed with the saliva. When you approach the holy table, be fast- 
ing, and present yourselves with a modest and recollected exterior. 

Under the appearance of bread, which is there no moie, in this 
host which is about to be placed upon your tongue, the unerring 
voice of faith reveals to us Jesus, the Son of God, the Omnipotent 
God, the Supreme Master of the universe, who calls us, who is now 
about to visit us, and whom we receive into our hearts. Yes, we 
know and we are convinced that our divine Saviour is truly and 
really present in the adorable Eucharist ; is not this enough to 
inspire us with a holy awe, a profound humility and a perfect 
modesty when we go to the holy table of the Lord ? To present 
ourselves there in a disrespectful manner, with a distracted and 
worldly air, might well give grounds to suppose that we have 
neither faith, piety nor religion ? 

In what dispositions must our soul be to receive the fruits of 
holy Communion? To receive worthily, we must be in a state of 
grace, that is to say, we must be free from mortal sin. The holy 
Eucharist being a sacrament of the living, supposes spiritual life, and 
at least the beginning of sanctity in those who receive it. To make 
a good and worthy Communion, we must therefore be just and pure 
in the eyes of God. Hence, we read, that in the early ages of the 
Church, every time that the holy Eucharist was distributed to the 
faithful, a deacon said with a loud voice : " Holy things are for the 
holy." As if he said: " Let those only eome to the table of the 
Lord, who have proved themselves, and in whom mortal sin no 



368 SHORT SERMONS. 

longer dwells ; and let those whose souls are stained with sin with- 
draw ; let them go and first purify themselves in the holy w^aters of 
penance. My Brethren, man is very much inclined to evil; and 
who among us would presume to flatter himself that he is exempt 
from sin ? Examine then your conscience well, hefore you approach 
the holy tahle, and, if you feel that you are guilty of mortal sin, re- 
memher that you must have recourse to the Sacrament of Penance to 
cleanse yourself; that you must not go to Communion before you 
have received absolution, no matter what may be your contrition ; 
that if you receive Communion in the sad state of sin, you commit 
a horrible sacrilege. 

To receive the fruits of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we must 
not only be exempt from all mortal sin, but even free from every 
attachment to venial sin. Strong and substantial food is of no 
service to a sick body: in like manner, the strong and holy food of 
the angels, the adorable Eucharist, is of little service to those cold 
and indolent Christians, who crawl lazily along in the way of the 
commandments, Avho have no dread of venial sin, who continually 
relapse into their faults and make no effort to correct their imper- 
fections. They feed upon the bread of angels, and they remain 
weak : why so ? because they prevent this divine Bread from pro- 
ducing its effects ; they place an obstacle to it by the attachment 
which their hearts preserve for venial sin. 

Do you wish therefore to communicate worthily and to receive 
much fi'uit from your Communions ? Remove all the obstacles, 
renounce all venial sin ; take the generous resolution to resist, with 
the grace of Cod, all your evil inclinations ; approach often to the 
tribunal of penance to have your souls purified from the smallest 
defilement, or, at least, efface every stain by a sincere sorrow. Our 
divine Saviour told His Apostles, that they were pure, and yet, 
before giving them His body and blood, He desired to Avash their 
feet. "His design was to show us by this act," says St. Bernard, 
" with what purity and what sanctity we ought to receive this august 
Sacrament ; His intention was to teach us, that it is not sufficient 
to be purified from all mortal sins, but that we must renounce 
venial faults, which are like dust that sticks to the feet." 

Although full of life and health, the body of man receives but 
little advantage from the food which he takes, unless he is hungry 



DISPOSITIONS FOR COMMUNION. 369 

and has an appetite ; in like manner, to make a holy Communion, 
and to experience the happy effects of the adorable Bread of the 
angels, it is not enough that our souls should be living and in 
health, that is, in the state of sanctifying grace, but they must be 
pressed by the pangs of hunger to approach the table of the Lord ; 
they must have a great desire to be united to Jesus Christ, to follow 
Him, and to advance continually in the^way of perfection which He 
has marked out for men. Behold, says St. Augustine, with what 
ardor, with what avidit)^ the infant seeks its mother's milk ! with 
what force it draws it from her breast ! but also see what vigor 
and beautiful development it derives from this fountain of its life ! 
So shall it be with you, my Brethren ; you will also receive numerous 
graces and signal favors, if you hunger and thirst for the divine 
nourishment which is offered you at the holy table of the Lord ; if, 
like the panting stag, you sigh after the fountains of the Saviour. 
St. Mary Magdelene de Pazzi said, that one Communion well made 
was enough to sanctify a soul. Dispose yourselves then, properly, 
attend seriously to the preparation of your hearts, every time you 
intend to partake of this sacred banquet, and remember those 
beautiful words of St. Francis of Sales, with which I will conclude 
this instruction. *' On the day previous to your approaching the 
holy Commimion, begin to prepare yourselves for this holy act by 
frequent aspirations and by sentiments of love. Ketire to bed 
sooner than usual, and, if possible, rise earlier in the morning. If 
you wake during the night, let your hearts be filled with some pious 
thoughts, and let your tongue repeat some sweet prayer, the fra- 
grance of which will perfume your soul and prepare it to receive its 
Spouse, who watches while you sleep, and who is disposed to grant 
you His graces and favors, if, on your part, you are well prepared." 
"The divine Majesty," says St. Teresa, "is accustomed richly to 
reward those who give Him a hearty welcome." Happy, my 
Brethren, will we be, if we prepare ourselves for holy Communion 
in this manner ! The adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist w^ill com- 
municate to us the life of our good Saviour, — the life of virtue on 
earth, and the life of glory for everlasting ages. — Aivien. 



370 SHORT SERMONS. 



SERMON LXXVl. 
ON A BAD COMMUNION. 



" You can not be partakers of the table of the Lord, and of the table of the 
devils." — 1 Corinthians, X : 21. 

In our last instruction, I told you the lioly dispositions witli 
which you ought to approach the table of the Lord, and what salu- 
tary and divine effects the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist 
produces in the soul that receives it worthily. To-day I will speak 
to you on a matter which I approach only with reluctance, namely : 
the sin of an unworthy, sacrilegious Communion. May the Almighty 
place upon my lips words sufficiently powerful to inspire you with 
a great horror for the crime which he commits who receives un- 
worthily. 

What is it to receive unworthily ? It is to go to Communion in 
the state of mortal sin. Those who examine not their conscience, 
though they have the moral certainty of having committed grievous 
sin ; those who disguise or conceal their sins in confession ; those 
who have neither a true sorrow for having offended God, nor a firm 
purpose of amendment; those who refuse to be reconciled with 
their neighbor, or to restore ill-gotten goods, to repair the wrong 
which they have done, to remove from the proximate occasions of 
sin ; all those, I say, must necessarily make bad confessions, and if 
they go to the holy table, they receive the Communion unworthily ; 
for they are most certainly in a state of mortal sin. Do they par- 
take of the body and blood of Christ ? Yes, my Brethren, the divine 
Saviour communicates himself to the good and to the wicked ; but 
far different is the result for each ! While the just finds in this 
heavenly nourishment numerous graces, — a union of love with God, 
— a pledge of eternal life ; the sacrilegious sinner finds death and a 
sentence of repi'obation ; he eats and drinks his own judgment, 
according to the awful exjoression of St. Paul. " Wherefore," says 



ON A BAD C M M U N ION. 371 

the Apostle, *' whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice 
of the Lord imworthil}'-, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the 
Lord. . . . For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and 
drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.'-'* 

Comprehend then, if you can, the enormity of the sin committed 
by him who dares to make an unworthy Communion. God is holi- 
ness ; the Sacred Scriptures call Him the Holy of Holies ; He is so 
holy that He discovers stains even in the angels who serve and 
adore Him ; every mortal sin is therefore an abomination to Him, 
and even the slightest venial sin is unutterably odious in His sight. 
Yet, it is this holy God that the sinner has the boldness to receive 
on his impure tongue, — into his guilty heart, — into the heart of a 
slave of Satan, — of a child of the devil, — into a heart where the 
devil reigns, and where he insults the Saviour of the world. Oh ! 
sacrilegious wretch, what a crime you commit ! You unite the holy 
and chaste body of the Son of God with a wanton, impure body, 
perhaps with the body of a drunkard, of an odious blasphemer. 
You unite the virginal, immaculate flesh of Jesus with flesh cor- 
rupted by sin ; you unite Christ with Belial, — the God of heaven 
with the devils of hell ! You trample under foot the precious blood 
of your Redeemer, M'ho has ransomed you and so often sanctified 
you, and you approach the holy table to murder again our loving 
Saviour ; for, as St. Paul says : " whosoever shall eat this bread, 
or drink this chalice unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and 
blood of the Lord." "Yes," adds St. Chrysostom, "he becomes 
as guilty as if he had, in reality, put Jesus Christ to death, and 
imbrued his hands in the blood of the Son of God." 

Behold the awful crime which those unworthy Christians commit, 
who recklessly approach this holy table, — sit at the banquet of the 
Lord, and receive the adorable Eucharist in the state of sin. Alas ! 
if the Apostle wept over sacrilegious Communions in his day, at a 
time when the great body of Christians was composed of saints, if 
he was compelled to acknowledge that the blood of Jesus was 
already profaned, in those happy days when the faithful often shed 
their own blood for the glory of His name, have we not reason to 
fear that this crime is much more frequent and common in our cor- 

* 1 Corinthians, xi : 27, 29. 



372 SHORT SERMONS. 

rupt age, — in those evil days wlien charity is so cold, and piety so 
weak and so rare ? When we behold so many people approaching 
the holy Communion, who scarcely make any preparation; who 
have no repentance for their sins, who have no will to be converted ; 
who will not turn from their evil ways, who neither renounce sin, 
nor the occasion of sin; my Brethren, I appeal to your reason and 
judgment, tell me whether we have not good grounds for believing 
that there is nothing more common in our days than unworthy and 
sacrilegious Communions ? Nevertheless, I must tell you, that an 
unworthy Communion is not only a great crime, but a dreadful 
misfortune. 

**He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh 
judgment to himself." Weigh well these words of St. Paul. The 
Apostle wished to make a comparison between this divine nourish- 
ment which we receive in Communion and the food which we use 
to support our body. As the food is changed into our own substance, 
as it is united to us so that it is no more possible to separate it 
from our body, because it forms with it but one and the same whole; 
so he who profanes the body of Christ, eats his own judgment, and 
transforms it, in a manner, into himself. His condemnation is not 
merely written in a book, or upon tables of stone or marble, but in 
his own heart ; it flows through his veins, — he bears it continually 
with him. Unfortunate wretch ! He believed that he had received 
his God and his Saviour, and he received from his Judge a condem- 
nation which passes into his very substance : terrible punishment, — 
which can only come from a God cruelly outraged ! Awful chas- 
tisement ! which brings in its train spiritual blindness, hard-hearted- 
ness and final impenitence ! 

St. Ambrose says, that the most evident sign of a man's repro- 
bation, is his approaching the holy table in the state of taortal sin, 
and receiving Communion in that state, without fear and without 
remorse. With such, faith grows weak, is daily diminished, and 
ends at last by being entirely extinguished. They cease to see the 
light, — they listen to no entreaty, — are insensible to good counsel, — 
to good example, — dead to every impulse that might rouse them 
from their fatal lethargy ; their conscience is hardened by the con- 
stant repetition of crime; the darts of grace are blunted against 
their heart, which the sword of the divine word can no longer 



ON A BAD COMMUNION. 373 

penetrate ; tliej fearlessly heap sacrilege upon sacrilege ; if they are 
not surprised by a sudden death, their last Communion is an enor 
mens sacrilege, and with the guilt of final impenitence upon their 
souls they fall into the eternal torments of hell. The traitor Judas, 
the hideous prototype of all sacrilegious wretches, is an example of 
the terrible truth which I here advance. Scarcely has he received 
into his corrupt heart the body of the Saviour, than the devil enters 
and takes possession of his soul. From that moment, he makes 
immense progress in the ways of evil, — he falls from vice to vice 
with the greatest rapidity, till he reaches the greatest of all crimes, 
for he sells the Just, the Holy One, — he betrays his Saviour with a 
kiss and delivers up his God to the fury of his mortal enemies. It 
is true, he shortly afterward seems to conceive a horror for his 
offense, and casts at the feet of the Jews the money which he had 
received as the price of his treason ; but his repentance is not sin- 
cere. He falls into despair, — ^he becomes a self-murderer, and 
scarcely is his soul buried in hell, when his body bursts asunder, 
and his bowels are strewn upon the ground. Unfortunate man ! 
He had made an unworthy Communion, — he had eaten and drunk 
his own judgment! 

However, my Brethren, you must not conclude from this that he 
who has had the misfortune of making an unworthy Communion 
should despair of his salvation, and renounce all hope of the happiness 
which awaits the elect in heaven. Oh ! no, let him not despair ; 
no matter how great his crime, no matter how enormous his offense, 
he has still one resource left. The mercy of God is greater than 
all the sins of men, — it is infinite ! The deicide Jew might have 
obtained his forgiveness ; the sacrilegious sinner may then also be 
reinstated in the favor and friendship of God. Let him go and 
cast himself, in the tribunal of penance, at the feet of his divine 
Saviour, and he shall not be rejected; that precious blood which he 
had the shocking impiety to profane, can still purify him from all 
his sins. Yes, you can become again the friend of God, and take 
your place among His cherished children ; but hasten, — delay not 
a moment, and never again add sacrilege upon sacrilege, lest God 
should forsake you, and final impenitence open for you the depths 
of the abyss, — a terrible doom, and yet too often the doom of those 
who profane the body and blood of Jesus Christ. 



374 SHORT SERMONS. 

Great God ! to crucify Thee again, to profane Thy adorable body, 
to trample under foot Thy precious blood, to renew the treason of 
Judas and the outrage of the Jews ; no, Lord, no, — never let this 
crime be committed among us. May all the faithful, guided by Thy 
divine light and supported and conducted by Thy grace, go often to 
receive Thy precious blood and adorable body ; may they have a 
horror for sacrilege, and may they always come to the heavenly 
banquet clothed with the nuptial robes. Lord, deign to prepare for 
thyself Thy dwelling m our hearts, and never permit us to find 
death in this divine fountain of life. Shower down upon us the 
abundance of Thy graces, and grant us the will to do good and to 
shun evil. Inspire us with a profound respect and veneration for 
the adorable sacrament of Thy body and blood, that we may 
worthily receive this pledge of eternal life and of a glorious immor- 
tality. — Amen. 



SERMOJy LXXVII. 

ON FREQUENT COMMUNION. 



"With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you before I suffer." — 
St. Luke, xxii : 15. 

The Apostle St. John tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ, having 
loved His disciples, loved them to the end, that is to say, as St. 
Chrysostom explains it, that He carried His love even to excess. 
This is a truth of which you are thoroughly convinced from all that 
we have hitherto said regarding the institution of the holy Eucharist. 
It is in this adorable sacrament that the love of Jesus Christ for 
mankind has been displayed to its fullest extent. It is there that 
He offers us the most precious treasure : His body and blood, 
strength, grace and life. Were we seriously to consider the value 
of the gift which He bestows, wnth what ardor would we labor to 
render ourselves worthy of being often admitted to eat this divine 
pasch with our amiable Saviour ! My Brethren, God invites us to 



ON FREQUENT COMMUNION. 375 

this sacred banquet : may my words, then, have the happy effect of 
inducing you to respond with eagerness to this tender invitation, 
and to approach frequently the holy table of the Lord. 

The holy Eucharist is not, like Baptism, absolutely necessary for 
salvation; a person can be saved without receiving holy Communion ; 
but as a precept of the Church, this sacrament is necessary for 
adults, and the reception of Communion is a divine command, 
according to these appalling words of our Saviour: "Unless you 
eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you shall not 
have life in you." We must go to Communion as soon as we come 
to the use of reason, and are sufficiently instructed in the mysteries 
of faith ; we must receive this sacrament, at least at Easter, 
every year, under pain of mortal sin, unless there be a lawful 
cause for deferring its reception ; in fine, we must receive holy 
Communion when we are in danger, — even probable danger of death. 
Christian mothers, you should adopt the pious practice of receiving 
holy Communion on the approach of your confinement ; this ador- 
able sacrament will fortify and protect you against the dangers and 
pains of child-birth ; it is the surest means of drawing down upon 
you and the child that the Lord has given you, the favors and bless- 
ings of heaven. 

It is true, those who go to Communion at Easter satisfy the pre- 
cept ; but do they correspond properly to the spirit and will of 
Jesus Christ? Is it one Communion in the year that this divine 
Saviour demands of you, when He says: "With desire I have 
desired to eat this pasch with you? . . . Take ye and eat," He says, 
*' this is my body ; take ye and drink, this is my blood .... Unless 
you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall 
not have life in you." Do you not then insult the goodness of 
your God by keeping a long time away from His holy table ? Do 
you not oppose His designs of mercy, when you respond but rarely 
and in some manner by compulsion to His tender invitations ? 
Ah ! if you loved this God, who is so prodigal of himself toward 
you, love would lead you frequently to the sacred banquet, where 
He gives you His flesh, His blood. His soul and His divinity ; 
where He gives himself to you Avithout reserve ! 

But you say, our holy mother, the Church, whom God has 
appointed to teach and conduct us in the ways of salvation, pre- 



376 SHORT SERMONS. 

scribes but one Communion in the year. My Brethren, what do 
you expect and require of your children ? Not only that they 
should obey your orders, but also that they should respect your 
advice and follow your counsels. Now, you are children of the 
Church of Christ, but are you obedient to your mother, when you 
wish to approach but once a year the holy table of the Lord? 
You can not be ignorant of the fact, that the Church solicits and 
entreats you to present yourselves there far oftener. "It is," she 
tells you in the Council of Trent, *'with all her maternal affection 
that she admonishes, exhorts, and conjures you, by the bowels of the 
mercy of God, to revere the sacred mysteries with such piety and 
affection of heart, that you may be in a state to receive often this 
divine bread, which is above all substance ; so that, fortified by this 
divine food, you may pass from the pilgrimage of this miserable 
life to your heavenly country." "Yes," says St. Cyprian, "we 
beg of God to give us daily that divine bread which came down 
from heaven, in order that we may be able always to remain united 
to Jesus Christ, to live in Him, to abide in Him, and that we may 
never have the misfortune of being separated from Him, nor lose 
His holy grace." It is thus we would act, my Brethren, thus we 
would obey the voice of God, our Father, and of the Church, our 
mother, if we had more faith, more piety, more relish for the good 
things of heaven, and more zeal for our own salvation ; nor would 
we be then reduced to the miserable expedient of covering, by 
specious pretexts, our criminal indifference for the sacraments. 

You are urged to approach frequently to the holy Communion, 
and what is your reply ? Would to God, you say, it were possible 
for us to receive often the body of our Saviour ! But we are too 
much occupied with the affairs of life ; we have no time to spare. 
Do you know what St. Augustine calls these great affairs ? He 
styles them great and laborious trifles. Nevertheless, my Brethren, 
God does not wish that you should neglect them ; but ought yon 
not to esteem your salvation and sanctification far beyond all things 
else ? And what more powerful means to work out your salvation 
than frequent Communion ? Is it not to it you should have re- 
course, to nourish and fortify your souls and render them steadfast 
and unshaken in the love and service of God? Frequent Com- 
munion will make the practice of virtue easy for you, — it will help 



ON FREQUENT COMMUNION. 377 

you to fulfill your duties ; it will aid you to live well, and a good 
and virtuous life will prepare you for a good and holy Communion. 
Then you will have no need of a great deal of time or of great 
and extraordinary efforts on your part to prepare yourselves, and 
approach the Lord's table in holy dispositions. Had the primitive 
Christians no occupation ? They were to be met with everywhere ; 
in the counting-house, and in the work-shop, — in fields and in cities, 
— at the bar and in the army. Like you, they had duties to fulfill 
as fathers and mothers, and they failed not to discharge the obliga- 
tions of their respective professions ; yet they found time and means 
to hear Mass every day, and to communicate very often. What 
they have done you could also do if you loved God, — your soul and 
your salvation. 

But you say, it is not so much our occupations as fear that keeps 
us from approaching frequently the holy table. Well, of what are 
you afraid ? — Is it not a dreadful crime to receive unworthily ? — 
Without doubt, it is a most horrible crime : but weigh well this 
expression of St. B ona venture : "To approach the holy table un- 
worthily, is a crime that makes one shudder with horror ; but not 
to receive Communion, through sheer negligence, is a damnable 
sin." But is there not a medium between these two extremes, 
which is that of putting one's self in a state to receive worthily ? 
Yes, there is a medium, and it is not hard to find it. Shun every 
mortal sin and wean your hearts from all attachments to venial 
faults ; acknowledging your weakness and the need you have of the 
assistance of grace, beg it from Jesus and His holy Mother ; place 
yourself under the guidance of a wise director, and I assure you, 
that you will never make unworthy Communions. 

You likQ well enough to go often to receive the body and blood 
of our Lord, but then the world will say that you wish to pass 
yourself off for a saint. — This is another specious pretext, and a 
very common one. It is true, my Brethren, there are a great many 
people in the world who delight in criticising, blaming and railing 
at the actions of their neighbors. Ought we to fear them ? No. 
If you receive Communion frequently, who are they that find fault 
with you ? Not the true Christians, — not sincerely virtuous persons ; 
these on the contrary praise and esteem you. Who are they who 
ridicule you ? Men without piety and without the fear of God, — 
32 



378 SHORT SERMONS. 

men wlio make it the whole business of their lives to censure the 
conduct of others, — men who know not what it is to love God. 
Should their miserable talk keep you away from holy Communion, 
and prevent you from enriching your souls with a treasure so 
precious ? If you wish to please this world, you can not please 
Jesus Christ, who condemns the world, abandoned as it is to sin. 
Let not the conversations of fools prevent you from being wise ; 
and for a miserable, " what will people say of me," do not deprive 
your soul of the heavenly nourishment which it needs so much ; do 
not expose it to the danger of losing God's grace, and with it life 
everlasting. 

Who has ever loved more than he who gives his life for the object 
of his love ? Thou, Lord Jesus, for Thou wast not content with 
giving Thy life, with shedding Thy blood to reconcile us with Thy 
heavenly Father, but Thou didst love us even to excess, — even to 
give us Thy flesh for our food and Thy blood for our drink. We 
know how great is the precious gift which Thou offerest to us, 
divine Saviour ! We know that, in the adorable Eucharist, we 
receive the bread of life, — the pledge of immortality ! We would 
often sit at Thy celestial banquet, but the enemies of our salvation, 
the world by its censures, the devil by his perfidious suggestions, 
concupiscence by its temptations, continually oppose our good will. 
Deign Lord, deign to infuse into our souls sufficient strength and 
energy to overcome all these obstacles. Yes, divine Jesus, Thy 
grace will support us, for Thy holy Mother will obtain it for us ; 
we will come often to eat the bread of angels, and to drink the 
chalice of Thy blood, that Thou mayest abide in us and we may 
abide in Thee, now and forever. — Amen. 



ON THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 379 



SERMON LXXVIII. 

ON THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 



"Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them ; and whose you shall 
retain, they are retained." — St. John, xx : 23. 

We have been regenerated in tlie holy waters of Baptism, 
strengthened and made perfect Christians bj^ the Sacrament of 
Confirmation, onr souls are nourished with the body and blood of 
Jesus Christ, in the adorable Eucharist, the Lord has aided us with 
His graces and enlightened us with His light : but, alas ! we have 
despised all, we have repeatedly trampled under foot the holy will 
of God, we have violated His law and lost His grace and His 
friendship ; we have grievously sinned, so great is our weakness ! 
so deep is the corruption of our nature ! The Eternal Truth has 
said that "nothing defiled shall ever enter the kingdom of heaven." 
Shall the gates of heaven then be forever closed against us ? No. 
God wills not the death of a sinner, but that he should be converted 
and live, and the mercy of our heavenly Father offers us a j)lank of 
salvation ; for in the Church of His divine Son, there is remission 
of sins, — there is the precious Sacrament of Penance. I proceed 
to-day to treat of this most important matter, and therefore rely 
upon your kind attention. 

The word Penance, in general, signifies to repent, and expresses 
both a virtue and a sacrament. As a virtue, it makes us detest our 
sins and repair the injury offered to God when we committed them. 
This virtue has been always indispensably necessary for obtaining 
from the mercy of God the pardon of sins. God, who is sanctity 
itself, and whose justice is infinite, grants the grace of forgiveness 
and gives His friendship to none but repenting sinners and those 
sincerely resolved to change their lives and to do penance. It is 
only when there is true contrition in the humbled heart of the sinner, 
that it can approach near enough to God to receive from Him the 



380 SHORT SERMONS. 

kiss of peace and reconciliation. So, in the Holy Scriptures, we see 
no example of pardon granted to the unrepentant ; on the contrary, 
the word of God emphatically tells us, that without repentance there 
is no hope of eternal salvation. 

Under the law of grace, Penance has assumed a new character ; 
Jesus Christ elevated it to the dignity of a sacrament, — made it a 
sacred rite, the exercise of which He has intrusted solely to His 
priests. What then is the Sacrament of Penance ? It is a sacra- 
ment, instituted hy Christ, to remit for those who are well-disposed, 
all the sins which they have committed after Baptism. In it, my 
Brethren, we find the means which the Saviour has established among 
us, to apply to us the all-powerful virtue of His blood, and to heal 
the wounds inflicted upon our souls by sin. And, since the divine 
Mercy has opened in His Church this precious source of grace, if 
the sinner does not have recourse to it when it is in his power, his 
salvation is hopeless, and no matter how apparent may be his 
repentance, there is no possibility of his being reinstated in the favor 
and friendship of God. Such is the will of God, — such is the order 
which He has established. 

The Sacrament of Penance is therefore absolutely necessary, as a 
means of salvation and by right divine, for all those who have lost 
their baptismal innocence by becoming guilty of mortal sin. **It 
is necessary for salvation," as the Council ^f Trent tells us. "for 
those who have fallen into sin after Baptism, as Baptism is for 
those who are not yet regenerated." However, the Sacrament of 
Penance may be supplied in case of necessity. Thus, a sinner 
who, at the point of death, can not get a priest, may, nevertheless, 
obtain the grace of reconciliation, if he is truly and sincerely sorry 
from the bottom of His heart for having offended God,, because He 
is infinitely good in himself; and if he join to repentance the ardent 
wish of receiving the sacrament, that is to say, a longing desire to 
confess his sins and to receive absolution, were it in his power. 

When was it that our divine Saviour established, in His Church, 
the power of remitting and of retaining sins ? He first made this 
promise when He said to His Apostles: ''Whatsoever thou shalt 
bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven : and whatso- 
ever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." 
It was a few days before His ascension, that He made this promise. 



ON THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 381 

He appeared in the midst of His disciples, — breatlied on them, 
and said: ''Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose sins you shall 
forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose yon shall retain, 
they are retained."* Then it was that the Sacrament of Penance 
was instituted ; it was then that the Son of God, to whom all 
power was given in heaven and on earth, granted, not to angels 
nor to archangels, but to His Apostles and their lawful suc- 
cessors in the ministry, an authority over souls, which opens or 
shuts the gates of heaven, since God ratifies there the judgments 
which they pronounce on earth ; it was then that He appointed 
them the judges of conscience, with power to decide what sinners 
are worthy, and who are unworthy of receiving the pardon of their 
sins ; it was then, in fine, that He bestowed upon them the divine 
power of truly and efficaciously remitting or retaining the sins of 
men, according as they imparted or refused the benefits of abso- 
lution. And this power our divine Saviour gave to His Apostles 
and successors in the most extensive and ample measure ; that is, 
without restriction, without exception, without limits ; in other 
words, there is no sin, no crime, no offense, no matter how black, 
enormous or aAvful, which may not be entirely and forever blotted 
out by the grace of the Sacrament of Penance, w^hen the sinner 
receives it from the hands of a priest legitimately ordained and 
invested with the necessary jurisdiction. 

What is the benefit, and what are the advantages which the 
Saci'ament of Penance procures for us ? My Brethren, to know the 
great importance and inestimable value of the benefits which the 
Saviour of the world granted to mankind when He instituted this 
Sacrament, it is necessary to tell you what mortal sin is, and the 
immense injury which it inflicts upon the soul. Mortal sin, com- 
mitted by man, who is but a worm of the earth, directly attacks the 
Supreme Ruler of the universe, — the Omnipotent God, who could 
annihilate His enemies the very moment they offend Him. Man, 
by committing mortal sin, outrages God in His very presence, 
under His eyes, at the very instant too, when this God of goodness 
is heaping His favors upon man. Mortal sin deprives the soul of 
the grace and friendship of the Lord, the best and the kindest of 

* St. John, XX : 22, 23. 



382 S II O K T S E 11 M O N S . 

Fathers ; it takes from the soul all the merits of the good works 
which it had performed ; it deprives it of all right to heaven, and 
renders it worthy of hell. How sad is the lot of him who comnnits 
mortal sin ! Behold, the gates of heaven are closed against him, 
and hell is open to receive him ! But must he abandon his soul to 
despair, — this poor soul already so sadly torn by the pangs of 
remorse ? Oh ! no; let him rather listen to the voice of the Good 
Shepherd, recalling His wandering sheep. Do penance. He says 
to him, come to me all you who are loaded with the weight of sin, 
— all you who have wearied yourselves in the ways of iniquity, and 
I will refresh you. Let my grace touch your hearts, — repent sin- 
cerely, take the firm resolution of never more falling into sin ; go 
and cast yourselves at the feet of my minister, make to him an 
humble confession of your faults, and he will say to you, in my 
name: "1 absolve you of your sins; go in peace, your sins are 
forgiven." 

How good, how merciful is the Lord ! What gratitude do we 
not owe Him for having established, in His Church, the Sacrament 
of Penance? This Sacrament opens heaven and it shuts hell, it 
restores to us the grace and friendship of the Lord ; it causes all 
our merits and good works to revive, — it reinstates us in our right 
to the kingdom of heaven : it once more inscribes our names in the 
book of life, from which they had been blotted out ; it gives us new 
strength to walk along the way of salvation ! The Sacrament of 
Penance remits all the eternal pains due to our sins, and sometimes, 
also the temporal pains which we must needs suffer in this world, 
or in the world to come ; it gives a sweet repose to our conscience, 
— abates, or extinguishes the fire of our passions, — curbs the desires 
of concupiscence, and fortifies our will for good. 

*'I absolve thee from thy sins," says the minister of Jesus Christ ; 
sweet and powerful words, which impart peace, tranquillity and 
happiness! "There is no peace for the Avicked," — ^his conscience 
pursues him everywhere. St. Augustine says of himself : I plunged 
into pleasures, and I found only sorroAvs. Blessed are they that 
mourn, Avere the Avords of our divine Lord, not only because they 
Avill be consoled in eternity, but because, that even on earth, the 
tears of repentance haA^e their joy, — their delights, and are already 
SAveeter than all the false and fleeting joys of sin. 



ON EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. 383 

How great are the benefits, — how precious the advantages which 
the Sacrament of Penance procures for sinners ! We ought to 
resort frequently to this source of grace and pardon ; we should 
hasten to approach this sacred tribunal, every time we have had the 
misfortune to fall into a single mortal sin. Delay not, — defer not, 
— believe me, there is too much danger in delay of conversion. 
Divine Mercy is infinite, no doubt, but then it has its fixed time, 
and the Holy Ghost says that the anger of God follows close on 
His mercy. To persevere in sin, says St. Chrysostom, is to possess 
the malice of the devil ; and St Bernard adds, that it is to render 
ourselves worthy of the sad fate of that dark spirit. He who, dur- 
ing his life, shall have neglected the Sacrament of Penance, and 
put off from day to day his conversion, can have but little hope, 
says St. Jerome, of obtaining from God the forgiveness of his sins, 
at the hour of death. Be ever grateful to Almighty God for having 
left in His Church the merciful tribunal of penance, and never per- 
mit soul-killing sin to abide in your hearts ; but hasten to purify 
your souls from its defilement in the tears of penance, that you may 
be reinstated in the sweet peace of the children of God, and that, 
pure and spotless, you may deserve to be made partakers of the 
happiness of the elect in heaven. — Amen. 



SERMON LXXIX. 

ON THE EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. 



" Let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord." — Lam., iii : 40. 

We know now in what the Sacrament of Penance consists, and 
what are the precious and inestimable advantages which it procures 
for those who receive it with the proper dispositions. But to receive 
the holy and salutary effects of this sacrament, there are five con- 
ditions to be fulfilled, namely: '* Examination of Conscience, con- 
trition, a firm purpose of amendment, confession and satisfaction.** 



384 SHORT SEEM ON S. 

I wish to make these conditions as clear and plain to your minds as 
possible, for they are of the greatest importance. To-day, I will 
speak of the Examination of Conscience, which is the first step 
which we are to take before approaching the tribunal of penance. 

Before a person goes to confession, he must examine his conscience, 
that is, he must make an exact search, — a strict inquiry into all his 
thoughts, all his desires, all his words, all his actions, and all his 
omissions contrary to the holy law of God ; in a word, into all the 
sins which he has committed since his last confession. Such is the 
" diligent discussion of ourselves " which the holy Council of Trent 
demands of penitents before they are permitted to approach the 
tribunal of mercy. 

The necessity of examining our conscience, is founded on the 
very nature of the sacrament which we are about to receive. The 
Lord has given to His ministers the truly divine power of remitting 
and retaining the sins which we have committed ; He appointed 
them the judges of our consciences. Now, my Brethren, hoAV do 
we proceed in the tribunals of human justice? Is it not the'duty 
of the judge to make a diligent inquiry into the cause to be tried ? 
Must he not thoroughly investigate the case ? Could he pass a 
just and equitable judgment upon the innocence or criminality of 
the accused, if his crime were unknown to him ? Surely not. In 
like manner, the priest of the Lord, in the tribunal of penance, can 
not pass judgment on a conscience, the state of which he knows 
not. The sinner therefore must accuse himself of all his sins, at 
least, of all those that are mortal. He must come himself to reveal 
the nature and the circumstances of the sins which sully his soul. 
It is necessary, therefore, that he endeavor to recall to mind all the 
sins which he has committed ; that he examine his conscience well, 
for it would be to expose himself to very great evil to receive abso- 
lution on a soul not properly examined. If, through want of due 
examination he forgets a mortal sin, his confession would be sacri- 
legious and null, — he would profane the Sacrament of Penance. 
How then ought this examination be made ? I know that it would 
be a signal service to many timid souls if we could determine for 
them exactly the time, the care, and the application which they 
ought to employ in the examination of their conscience ; but, my 
Brethren, all that we can say about this is, that it depends on two 



EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. 385 

circumstances, namely : the kind of life of the penitent, and the 
frequency or the unfrequency of his confessions. No doubt, the 
Christian who loves and fears the Lord, who constantly watches 
over the thoughts and sentiments of his heart, who comes often to 
purify himself in the waters of repentance, can, in a very short time, 
make a review of his soul, and put himself in a position to make 
known its state to his confessor. But can the same be said of the 
careless and worldly Christian, who exposes himself to all kinds of 
temptations, who heaps sin upon sin, who lays down the heavy 
burden of his offences only at long intervals, perhaps only once in 
the year. No doubt, this sinner must devote much more time, and 
take far greater care in examining his conscience and finding out his 
sins. You ought always devote as much attention and care to your 
examination, as you would reasonably bestow upon an affair of the 
highest importance. In truth, you should give more time and 
application to this than to any other business of your life, since the 
affair of your eternal salvation is injfinitely more important than all 
the others together. 

But, my God ! is this the way we act ? Is it thus that we con- 
duct ourselves when there is a question of preparing ourselves for 
an humble confession of our sins, which is to reconcile us with Thee ? 
Do we examine our conscience ? Alas ! we run into the confessional, 
almost without a moment's previous reflection, — without knowing 
what we are to say to the priest of Jesus Christ ; we say little or 
nothing, — remain there silent ; and our confessor is constrained to 
sound by little and little the depths of our conscience, and by 
numberless questions, to drag from it the sins by which it is sullied. 
We imagine ourselves safe, because, having declared some sins M^hich 
we happened to remember, we add that we also accuse ourselves of 
the sins which we do not now recall to mind. But, my Brethren, 
are you not deceiving yourselves ? Are all the sins which you did 
not remember forgiven ? If you have made the necessary examin- 
ation, without doubt, your forgotten sins are pardoned ; but if you 
have not examined yourselves with all the care, which the state of 
your conscience required, neither the sins which you had forgotten, 
nor those which you confessed are forgiven ; but you commit a 
sacrilege. If you are notably deficient in the examination of your 
conscience, you insult the majesty of God, — you profane the 
5S 



386 S H O K T S E li il O N S . 

sacrament, — your confession is null and void, and you must repeat 
all the confessions, in which, through your criminal negligence, you 
have omitted to declare the sins which you have committed. Let us 
see now on what you ought to examine your conscience. Generally 
speaking, there is no obligation of confessing venial sins ; they are 
not therefore the necessary matter for the Examination of Con- 
science. I make this remark for the benefit of those scrupulous 
persons, who very often approaching the sacraments, imagine that 
they do right in devoting entire hours to their examination, and 
thus lose a precious time, which they could employ far more profit- 
ably in exciting their hearts to sentiments of true repentance. But, 
as to Christians less pious and more remiss in their religious duties, 
they must extend their examination over all their sins, for with 
them it is not always easy to distinguish venial faults from mortal 
sins. 

The necessary matter for the Examination of Conscience is then 
all mortal sins, not only those which are certainly mortal, but also 
those which are doubtfully so ; it also comprises all the circum- 
stances which change the species of the sin, and which notably 
augment or diminish its malice. You must also endeavor to call 
to mind the exact number of times you have committed the same 
sin. "It is not enough for the sinner," says the Council of Trent, 
**to go and cast himself at the feet of the confessor and declare 
himself guilty ; he must also confess the kind and the number of 
his sins." It is then very necessary before making his confession, 
that the sinner seek to ascertain the number, the kind, and the 
nature of his prevarications. There are oftentimes circumstances 
which considerably augment or diminish the malice of a sin, and 
circumstances which change its species ; the sinner must carefully 
examine himself on this important point, that the judge, who 
occupies the place of Jesus Christ, may be able to pronounce the 
sentence with a perfect knowledge of the case. To enable you to 
comprehend well what I have said on this subject, I will adduce 
some examples. 

Blasphemy is doubtless a most grievous sin, one of its own nature 
always mortal. But if a man fall into it by a sudden moment of 
anger, by surprise, and without reflection, this circumstance notably 
diminishes his sin, and perhaps excuses him altogether before Qo^ 



EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. 387 

To steal a few cents is only a venial sin ; but if one takes this sum 
from a person who has nothing else to live on, here is a circumstance 
which notably augments the malice of the sin, and renders it mortal. 
To steal from a church makes the theft a sacrilege. Thus, as you 
see, certain circumstances can increase, or diminish, or change the 
malice of your sins ; you must accuse yourselves of these. . To do 
this you must know them ; therefore, you must examine your con- 
science about them. 

Do you wish then to make your examination as God requires you 
to make it, and to be able to accuse yourselves of your sins, so that 
there will be nothing wanting to the essential integrity of your con- 
fession ? First then, fall on your knees before the divine Majesty, 
and thank Him for the graces He has granted to you. Kecall to 
your mind that it is He who created you, who has purchased you, 
not with silver or gold, but with His own divine blood ; that His 
mercy has sought after you and invited you, and for a long time 
has waited for your repentance. Invoke with true filial confidence 
the light and assistance of the Holy Ghost ; beg Him to enlighten 
your conscience, to dissipate the darkness which conceals from your 
eyes the sins which defile it. Implore the holy Virgin to obtain for 
you the grace to make a good confession. Make a sincere and heart- 
felt act of contrition. Then examine yourselves on the seven deadly 
sins, on the commandments of God and the precepts of the Church, 
and on all the duties of your state of life, for on all these will you 
be one day judged by God. Think over the different places in 
which you were, the persons with whom you have associated, the 
business in which you have been employed, your passions and your 
inclinations. 

After your examination is finished, once more ask God to pardon 
the sins of which you have been guilty ; and in conclusion form 
resolutions and take the necessary precautions to expiate and avoid 
them. Act thus, my Brethren, so that, by a good confession, you 
may make your peace with God, and be once more placed on the 
road to virtue, — the only one which leads to heaven. — Amen. 



388 SHORT SERMONS. 

SERMON LXXX. 
ON CONTRITION. 



" A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit : a contrite and humble heart, God, 
thou wilt not despise." — Psalms, 1:19. 

The sinner who wislies to be restored to the favor and friendship 
of God, must come to the feet of the minister of the Lord, and 
make known to him his sins, their number and species, with the 
circumstances which materially change, augment, or diminish their 
malice. He must then carefully examine his conscience. But it 
would be to no purpose to call to mind the sins which defile his 
soul, nor can he obtain pardon for them, unless the remembrance 
excite in his heart true and sincere Contrition. Contrition holds 
the first rank among the acts of the penitent. It is absolutely 
necessary, and to be pleasing to God, it must possess certain quali- 
ties. These qualities will form the subject-matter of this instruction. 

Contrition is a heart-felt sorrow, and a detestation of the sins 
which we have committed, with the firm purpose of sinning no 
more for the future. Contrition regards both the past and the 
future. For the past, it is a regret for having offended God ; for 
the future, it is the resolute will to sin no more. It includes not 
only the ceasing to sin, with the purpose and commencement of a 
new life, but also hatred and detestation of the sinful life we have 
been leading. 

As water is necessary in the administration of Baptism, so re- 
pentance is necessary to obtain pardon in the Sacrament of Penance. 
Nay, is more : the baptism of water can be supplied by the baptism 
of desire and by the baptism of blood or martyrdom ; but to return 
to the grace of God, there is no means of salvation which can re- 
place Contrition. Confess your sins as often as you please, practice 
the severest mortifications, amend all your vicious ways, still, unless 
you have a true sorrow for your sins, you will remain always guilty, — 



ON CONTKITION. 389 

always defiled. Be very careful therefore, that you do not imagine 
the Sacrament of Penance to consist merely in the confession of 
your sins and the absolution of the priest. You have rebelled 
against God — you have despised His law, and, unless you repent 
of this rebellion, and persevere in His service, God, all-merciful as 
He is, will not forgive your sins, though the sovereign pontiff him- 
self were to pronounce over you a thousand times the words of 
absolution. Suppose a man had lived during the space of eighty 
years in the practice of every Christian virtue, — the purest and 
most perfect model of holiness ; but at the end of his life were to 
fall into one mortal sin, and died in that sin without having true 
repentance ; what would be his doom for all eternity ? He would 
be forever condemned to hell. But you say, he has confessed his 
sins, received the holy Viaticum, Extreme Unction, and a plenary 
indulgence. Yes, but if you are sure that his heart was not truly 
repentant, — that he had not true Contrition, I must persist in my 
assertion that his soul is in hell. For, to return to the grace of 
God, — to regain the favor of heaven. Contrition is indispensable, 
and it must be interior, supernaiural, sovereign and universal. 

Contrition must be interior, that is to say, it must exist in the 
soul, — the heart must be truly penetrated with it. It is the heart 
which has sinned, — it is the heart which, by its immoderate attach- 
ment to the creature, has been the principle and the source of sin ; 
Contrition therefore must spring from the heart, to destroy its in- 
ordinate love of the creature. It is by the heart that man strays 
away from God; it is the heart which is sick; the remedy therefore 
must be applied to, and operate upon the heart, — the heart must be 
bruised with sorrow, — repentance must be in the heart, to heal it of 
its malady and lead it back to God. To attain heaven, it is not 
enough to say, Lord, Lord, I am sorry for having offended Thee ! 
If the heart speak not the word, the motion of the lips avail no- 
thing. God pardons, but only the contrite and humble heart ; God 
forgives, — but He forgives the penitent who is converted with his 
whole heart, who, in the language of the prophet, "rends his heart 
and not his garments." 

Contrition must be supernatural, that is, it must be excited in us 
by a motion of the Holy Spirit, and founded upon motives of faith. 
It must come from God, and have God for its end, since it must 



390 S II O li T S E Ji M O N S . 

lead us to detest sin as an offense against God. Contrition mnst 
be supernatural in its principle. It must spring from God, — God 
alone can produce it in our souls : hence the prophet said : " Con- 
vert us to Thee, Lord, and we shall be converted."* You have 
destroyed the life of grace by mortal sin, but you can not recover 
it by your own strength, for Contrition is the gift of heaven. 
Nevertheless, yield not to despair, but be urgent in prayer ; this 
Contrition, which is above your strength and which you can never 
merit, may be obtained by prayer. ** Ask, and you shall receive ; 
knock, and it shall be opened unto you ;" knock, — God M^ill hear 
your sighs, and Contrition will descend into your hearts, for the 
Saviour has said : " Whatsoever you shall ask my heavenly Father 
in my name, shall be given unto you." 

Contrition must therefore be supernatural in its principle. It 
must also be supernatural in its motives; that is, it must be founded 
on motives which faith furnishes, and not on motives purely human 
and natural. Our Contrition will be supernatural in its motives, if 
we be truly sorry for having offended God, because faith reveals to 
us the enormity and heinousness of sin; or, because sin offers an 
injury to God and offends the best of Fathers ; or, because sin makes 
us lose heaven ; or, at least, because eternal torments are reserved 
for every grievous sin. These motives are supernatural, since they 
come from God ; inspired by heaven, they have reference to God and 
to the things of God; and such Contrition will obtain the pardon 
of our sins. Alas ! how many sinners are there, who repent of their 
sins only for human reasons, — whose Contrition springs from mere 
natural motives, and therefore is incapable of obtaining the forgive- 
ness of their transgressions ! A man commits a theft : he is sorry 
for it, and even conceives a deep and most lively sorrow for his 
offense ; but it is because he has been arrested by an officer of 
justice, — ^he will be delivered to the court to be tried in a few days, 
and will be sentenced to hard labor in the penitentiary. A young 
girl has had the misfortune to yield to temptation, — to commit a 
bad act : she bitterly laments her folly, — she weeps most sincerely 
over her shame, but it is because her disgrace has become public. 
In these cases, repentance is excited only through fear of temporal 

» Jeremias. 



ON CONTIilTION- 391 

evils, — it comes not from God,— it has no relation to God, — God 
is not taken into consideration. It is God whom you have 
offended, but it is not on His account that you regret having done 
the evil; — your Contrition is therefore only natural, and God 
makes no account of your sorrow; your Contrition neither blots 
out your sin, nor does it reconcile you to the Lord. 

Contrition must be sovereign, that is to say, the penitent must be 
more afflicted for having offended God, than for all the evils that 
could befall him. Sin deprives us of heaven, exposes us to hell, 
offends a God infinitely good, — infinitely perfect ; that is, sin 
causes the greatest and most frightful of all evils. A slight evil 
afflicts us little, — a great evil afflicts us much. Now. sin is the 
greatest of all evils; it is therefore just to regret and weep more 
over sin than over all other evils, which, however great under other 
respects, are always inferior to the evil of sin. So, to obtain the 
pardon of our sins, we must have a sovereign sorrow, — the greatest 
of all sorrows — a sorrow which outweighs all other sorrows. How- 
ever, you must observe, that it is not in the sensibility, but in the 
will, that this sovereign sorrow must have its seat ; that is, it is not 
necessary to expeiience the same outward desolation which we 
would feel, were we stricken down with a sad calamity or a serious 
accident. Mortal sin is, indeed, a misfortune afflicting enough to 
draw tears from our eyes ; and if those tears are sincere, we may 
say of them, with St. Peter Chrysologus : "Happy tears that flow 
from such a source ! They bedew the earth, soften heaven, quench 
the fires of hell, and blot out the sentence of death pronounced 
against the sinner." Such was the sorrow of David, of Mary 
Magdalen and of St. Peter, who wept bitterly over their sins. No 
doubt, it would be a praiseworthy disposition to shed tears over 
our iniquities ; but they spring from a sensibility which is not 
always in our power ; they are therefore not necessary. But what 
is necessary, is, that the will be determined to undergo all kinds of 
temporal calamities, rather than consent again to one single mortal 
sin. If this good will, — this firm purpose never more to offend 
God springs from the heart, then, our sorrow for sin is greater than 
for all the evils that could befall us in this life ; then, we appreciate 
God as he ought to be appreciated, — then, we place God above all 
temporal things ; then is our Contrition sovereign. 



392 SHORT SERMONS. 

Let us not forget that this sorrow for sin must also be universal, 
that is to say, it must extend to all the mortal sins which we have 
had the misfortune to commit. God abhors and detests, equally, 
every mortal sin : we must therefore do penance for all, without 
exception. We can not obtain our reconciliation with God, if He 
discovers in our heart a grievous sin for which we have neither 
hatred nor regret. Hence the Lord said: "Be converted, and do 
penance for all your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your 
ruin."* And St. Augustine adds: "The Lord will not have a 
divided heart, a heart only half converted, which abhors only some 
sins and remains attached to others. God requires a complete 
sacrifice, and demands that the Contrition of the heart should extend 
to all sins : it is only on this condition that we can obtain our par- 
don and regain the grace of God." My Brethren, I have now 
explained to you the necessity of Contrition, its qualities, and the 
motives which ought to excite you to it. I beseech you, do your 
utmost, that the love of God may be always paramount in pro- 
ducing in your soul sorrow and regret for having committed sin. 
Repent, not only because you have offended an omnipotent God, 
who punishes the sinner eternally in hell, but because you have 
offended a God infinitely good and infinitely amiable. Endeavor 
to love this God for the future, who has loved you so much, and 
mingle with your love a profound and lively grief for having 
exposed yourselves to lose His grace. Ask this Contrition from 
your Saviour; He will not refuse you, for He came to call sinners, 
so that none of them might be lost, but that the kingdom of God 
might be the inheritance of all. — Amen. 



» Ezechiel, xviii ; 30. 



FIRM PUKPOSE OF AMENDMENT. 393 



SERMON IX XXI. 
FIRM PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT. 



"Go, and now sin no more." — St. John, viii: 11. 

True contrition, which alone is capable of obtaining for us the 
pai-don of our sins, regards both the past and the future. The 
penitent must have a sincere regret for having offended God, and a 
sovereign detestation of all the sins of which he has been guilty ; 
he must be firmly resolved never more to offend the Lord, and care- 
fully to avoid, in future, whatever might lead him into mortal sin 
and cause him to lose that grace which the divine Mercy has 
bestowed on him. It is on this good resolution, — on this Firm 
Purpose of Amendment, — that I intend speaking to you to-day. 

When you are in the tribunal of penance, at the feet of the 
minister of Jesus Christ, and he is about to pronounce the merciful 
words of absolution over you, you say: "0 my God, I firmly 
purpose, by the help of Thy holy grace, never more to offend Thee, 
to do all that I can to atone for my sins and amend my life for 
the future." Such is the good resolution, — the firm, unshaken 
purpose of amendment, which the Lord wishes to see in your hearts, 
before cleansing your soul of its stains and restoring you to His 
friendship. It is not sufficient to say : I am sorry that I have 
sinned, and with the aid of grace, I will endeavor to correct myself; 
this, I hope to accomplish. The Almighty demands that you say 
sincerely, absolutely, and unconditionally : I will correct my faults. 
You must be decided, — determined to avoid sin, despite all the 
charms which the world may present to your view, despite all the 
pleasures which flesh and blood may hold out to your gratification, 
despite all the snares and assaults of the devil. You must firmly 
resolve to resist and vigorously oppose your passions, to root out 
and drive from your hearts all evil inclinations and criminal habits, 
to break off all dangerous connections, and fly from all proximate 



394: SHORT SERMONS. 

occasions of sin. You must be firmly determined to forgive every- 
one who has injured or offended you, and to repair the wrong which 
you have done to your neighbor in his goods, in his reputation or 
his honor. You must be firmly resolved to make a constant use of 
all the means of salvation which God, your confessor and your own 
experience recommend and suggest. Such must be your good reso- 
lution, — your Firm Purpose of Amendment ; and, if you are not 
determined to act thus, God will not forgive you your sins. " Let 
the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and 
let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to 
our God : for he is bountiful to forgive,"* says the prophet Isaias. 

m}'- God, '* I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee ;" this is 
what your lips say ; but God hears your heart, which still sighs 
after the pleasures of iniquity, and which, in a voice louder than 
that of your tongue, says : I wish to outrage thee more ; to-morrow, 

1 will again crucify Thee ! — Ah ! if such be the dispositions of your 
heart, your sins are not remitted. 

The Father of mercies loves to forgive the contrite and humble 
heart, but the God of all justice rejects the prayer of the impenitent 
hypocrite ; He will reject you, for you have not the Firm Purpose 
of Amendment, — you have not contrition, — your sorrow is but 
apparent, — your contrition is false. How can it in fact be interior, 
since your heart has still the desire and the wish to persevere in 
sin? How can it be supernatural and come from God, since you 
intend to continue displeasing the divine Majesty ? How can your 
contrition be sovereign, since you are still in love with the delights 
of sin ? How can it be universal, extending to all your sins, when the 
resolution of committing these same sins is found to exist in your 
hearts ? God knows your dispositions, — He sees the secret recesses 
of your hearts, — He sees your want of sincerity, when your lips 
pronounce the words : I will sin no more. St. Chrysostom com- 
pares such penitents to comedians, who personate the character of 
those in affliction. "They weep," he says, "they sigh, they moan, 
and a little while afterward they laugh and amuse themselves as 
before." This great saint adds, "that they who make their con- 
fession without being sincerely determined to forsake the ways of 

* Isaias. Iv: 7. 



FIRM PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT. 395 

sin, have as little contrition as stage actors." But no, you have 
no intention to outrage the Lord thus, and I perceive in you some 
inclination to quit the paths of vice. Yet, my Brethren, this 
is not enough; for God demands a firm purpose, — a determined 
action and efficacious will. **Go, and sin no more," said our 
divine Saviour to the guilty woman whose sins He had just par- 
doned; and on another occasion He said to the paralytic: ** Behold, 
thou art made whole ; sin no more, lest some worse thing happen 
to thee."* 

I know, my Brethren, and experience teaches us the sad truth every 
day, that in spite of our good resolutions, — in spite of our Firm Pur- 
pose of Amendment, we are not sure of sinning no more. Your good 
i*esolutions will not render you impeccable, and you must be per- 
suaded that if you were thrown back on your own resources, — aban- 
doned to your own weakness, you would again commit sin. But if 
you are truly penitent when you present yourselves to the priest, you 
will have a will fully resolved to fly from sin, and this is sufficient, — 
God requires no more. Why so ? Because, if you have this Firm 
Purpose of Amendment, you will distrust your own weakness, you 
will rely upon the help of divine grace, — you will pray fervently 
and seek the most effectual means to accomplish your good resolu- 
tions and remain faithful to them. If you are a true penitent, — if 
you sincerely wish to sin no more, then you will avoid, with the 
greatest care, whatever has hitherto caused you to fall into sin, — 
whatever might yet entice you into it ; you will, in a word, shun 
every dangerous occasion of evil. The Holy Ghost assures us that 
he who loves the danger, will perish in it. Moreover, does not 
experience teach us that whoever exposes himself to the proximate 
occasion of sin, comes not out of it free from guilt ? When a man 
sincerely wishes to attain the end of his labors, he carefully removes 
every obstacle that stands in his way. You desire to avoid sin : 
criminal connections, that bad company, those sinful amusements 
and bad books, have been the occasions which always caused you 
to fall ; you must therefore break asunder all these ties ; you must 
free yourself from them, no matter how great the pain you thereby 
experience. God desires, — God commands it. He who does not 

* St. John, V : xiii. 



396 SHORT SERMONS. 

try to avoid the proximate occasions of mortal sin, is not resolved 
never to commit it again, — he has no regret for past transgressions, — 
he has no contrition, and therefore, God refuses to extend to him the 
grace of pardon. And yet how many Christians there are, who come 
to the sacred tribunal of penance, who solicit, — nay even insist on 
receiving absolution, without having the will or the intention of re- 
nouncing the occasions which caused their ruin ! You must be sober, 
and still you continue to frequent places and visit persons that have so 
often made you violate the rules of temperance ! You must be chaste, 
and yet you will not separate from those criminal connections and 
dangerous associations ! You must be charitable, and yet you will 
give nothing, or scarcely any thing to the poor ! You must serve God 
with greater zeal, and yet you will not get rid of that bad habit of 
neglecting even your morning and evening prayers ! You will not 
renounce the habit of cursing, swearing and blaspheming, nor do 
any thing to free yourselves from these horrid crimes ! You tell us 
that you will sin no more, and yet you will not forsake dangerous 
occasions ! Is this not as if you said : I do not wish to soil my 
clothes, and yet I will always walk in the mud ; I do not wish to be 
burned, yet I will cast myself into the flames ? No, you possess not 
the Firm Purpose of Amendment, — you have no desire to Hy from sin. 

Have you this firm purpose? Do you wish to know whether 
yon have it or not ? Examine whether you follow the advice of 
your confessor even when he enjoins things difficult ; see if you 
avoid evil occasions, by making use of the means which he prescribed 
for you ; see if you seriously labor to uproot your dangerous or 
sinful habits. A sick man would surely act unreasonably, who, 
desiring to be cured, would, nevertheless, refuse to take the medicine 
prescribed by his physician. 

If you have a sincere and Firm Purpose of Amendment, ordinarily 
speaking, you will persevere. St. Gregory the Great says : to do 
penance, is to weep over past sins and never again do ought deserv- 
ing tears. So, when we easily relapse into sin, when we make 
hardly any effort to avoid it, when we fall back into our old habits 
almost immediately after confession, it is greatly to be feared that 
our Purpose of Amendment was not sincere, that we have not been 
truly penitent, and consequently that we have not obtained from 
God the forgiveness of our crimes. 



FIRM PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT. 397 

Do you understand now why your director sometimes refused yon 
absolution ? Was it because you accused yourself of numerous and 
grievous sins ? No ! but it was because be was prudently convinced 
that you had neither contrition, nor a Firm Purpose of Amendment ; 
that you would not sincerely renounce sin, — the occasion of sin and 
bad habits ; that you would not forgive your enemies ; would not 
restore ill-gotten goods ; that you would neither follow his advice, 
nor employ the means which he pointed out to you as necessary for 
your correction and the amendment of your life. This is what pre- 
vented the minister of Jesus Christ from giving you absolution. 
You yourself did not desire it, since you refused to render yourself 
worthy of it. And truly, I would be profoundly afflicted if I knew 
that in so sad a state of conscience you were to meet a confessor, 
who, fearing to appear severe, would be weak enough to pronounce 
the words of absolution over all sorts of penitents, whether they 
had a Firm Purpose of Amendment or not. Such as these damn 
both themselves and their penitents. 

I beseech you, my dear Brethren, every time you go to confession, 
form the sincere and firm resolution, not only to avoid sin, but also 
to fly the occasions of sin, and seriously to labor in strengthening 
yourselves in your change of life. No doubt, you will meet with 
many obstacles from evil propensities and bad habits ; no doubt, you 
will still be tempted to relapse into your old sins, to fail in your 
good resolutions ; but remember that the kingdom of God suffers 
violence, and that the grace of God is all-powerful. Ask this grace, 
through the intercession of the blessed Virgin ; she will obtain it 
for you, and through it you will be strong. Remember that it is 
worth doing something to attain the happiness of heaven. Remem- 
ber that if 5^ou persevere in virtue, a great recompense awaits you ; 
that, if you are faithful to your firm purposes, you will be crowned 
with glory in a happy eternity. — Amen. 



398 SHORT SERMONS 



SERMON LXXXII 
ON CONFESSION. 



"Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed." — 
Psalms, Ixxxiv : 11. 

The sinner has carefully examined his conscience, — he is repentant, 
and firmly purposes to sin no more : is his sin forgiven him ? Not 
yet; he has still to make an humble Confession of them to a priest 
lawfully authorized to absolve him. It is in the tribunal of penance 
that mercy and truth meet and give each other the kiss of peace. 
Truth proceeds from the mouth of the sinner, and the mercy of 
God descends from heaven and pronounces the consoling sentence 
of absolution, which purifies the soul from all its stains and makes 
it as white as snow. You understand that I intend speaking to you 
to-day of Confession, the fourth condition necessary for the worthy 
reception of the Sacrament of Penance. 

Confession is an humble, sincere and entire accusation of our sins 
to an approved priest, in order to obtain absolution for them from 
him. We say that Confession is an accusation, and not a simple 
declaration, not a mere recital of our sins, because we mustvappear 
at the tribunal of penance as criminals before our Judge, and act 
as accusers against ourselves, by confessing our sins. Every priest 
has not jurisdiction to hear our Confession and absolve us. He 
must be approved by the bishop of the diocese, and have juris- 
diction to exercise the '' power of Holy Orders," which were conferred 
on him at his ordination. This accusation is made to the priest, to 
"receive from him absolution," that is, with the intention of obtain- 
ing from him a sentence of mercy and reconciliation with God. 
What goodness ! What mercy on the part of our God ! Criminals 
appear before earthly judges to be condemned, and it is to be par- 
doned and justified that the penitent sinner appears before the priest 
whom Jesus Christ has appointed as his judge. 



ON CONFESSION. 399 

Confession having "been instituted by our divine Lord himself, it 
follows that it is absolutely necessary for our reconciliation with 
God, to have recourse to this means, whenever we have had the 
misfortune to commit mortal sin, unless there exist an impossibility 
of going to Confession. Then an act of perfect contrition, accom- 
panied by the sincere desire of going to Confession, obtains our 
pardon. Confession has ever been regarded and practiced in the 
Church for more than eighteen hundred years, as a necessaiy conse- 
quence of the power of remitting and retaining sins, which our 
Saviour bestowed upon His Apostles and their successors : '* Whose 
sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them : and whose you 
shall retain, they are retained."* He therefore wished that priests. 
His vicars on earth, should be so many judges, before whom Chris- 
tians must appear to accuse themselves of all the mortal sins which 
defile their conscience, that, by the power which these judges have 
received, they may pronounce the sentence of forgiveness, or refuse 
it if they find the sinner not properly disposed to receive it. Priests 
therefore are judges, and, as such, to pronounce sentence they must 
have a perfect knowledge of the cause submitted to their decision. 
The penitent then must give evidence against himself, — he must 
declare his sins to the priest. Why so ? Does he confess them to 
ascertain whether they can be forgiven ? By no means ; for there 
is no crime, no matter how grievous, that can not be pardoned. 
Why then is he bound to declare them to the priest ? In order that 
the minister of God may know the number, the malice and the 
circumstances of his sins ; that he may see what is the state of the 
penitent's soul ; whether he truly repents of his faults, is willing to 
repair the wrongs he has done, to forgive all his enemies, to amend 
his life ; in a word, that he may be able to judge from the dispo- 
sition in which he finds the sinner, whether he really deserves pardon. 
Such is the order establised by the Saviour of the world. Tlie 
accusation of our sins is therefore necessary : it is an article of faith, 
and the Church condemns as a heretic, any one who presumes to 
deny that sacramental Confession is by divine appointment neces- 
sary for eternal salvation. f 

We must confess our sins ; but when must we confess them ? 

* St. John, XX : 23. t Council of Trent, Sess.: 14 Con. 



400 SHORT SERMONS. 

Not only once a year, and to satisfy the ecclesiastical precept of 
annual Confession, but every time that we find that we are in 
probable danger of death, or on the point of exposing ourselves to 
death ; every time also that we have the misfortune of falling into 
mortal sin. Oh ! then, my Brethren, let ns go to Confession as 
soon as we can, for we can not neglect doing so without exposing 
ourselves to become hardened in evil. "Delay not your conversion 
to the Lord," says the Holy Ghost. The uncertainty of life, and 
the advice which our divine Saviour has givin us to hold ourselves 
always in readiness, that we may not be surprised, ought to deter- 
mine ns to hasten as soon as possible to the salutary remedy of 
Confession. 

"Go, therefore, and show yoiirself to the priest," if you wish to 
obtain the remission of your sins and the cure of your spiritual 
wounds. Go, for it is a commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Go, and, if your Confession be well made, the priest, who is your 
judge, but a judge who understands what it is to be merciful and 
compassionate, w^ill pronounce over your soul the sentence of grace 
and pardon, and all your sins shall be effaced ; they shall be as if 
they had never been. But to obtain this immense favor, your Con- 
fession must be performed well ; it must be humble, sincere and entire. 

The sinner must not be content with bringing to the feet of the 
representative of Jesus Christ a truly contrite heart, his heart must 
also be humhled. He must be humble in his exterior ; he ought to 
present himself at the tribunal of penance in a decent and modest 
dress, on his knees, in the posture of a culprit supplicating mercy. 
He must be humble in the manner of declaring his sins : he ought 
to abase himself before God, in acknowledgment of his misery and 
of the need which he has of the mercy of the Lord. 

Is there, in fact, any sentiment more becoming the sinner, than 
that of profound humility ? What is he at the feet of the minister 
of Jesus Christ ? Is he not a criminal at the tribunal of the King 
of kings, whom he has grievously offended, from whom he implores 
mercy and the pardon of his sins ? Does he not come as a poor, 
sick man, to expose to the view of his physician the wounds of his 
afflicted soul, and beseech him to apply a remedy ? Is he not a 
man overwhelmed with misfortunes, who comes to reveal his sad 
position to his best and dearest friend, and ask of him aid, counsel 



ON CONFESSION. 401 

and assistance ? What should pass in the heart of such a man, 
and what dispositions should he manifest ? Should he be proud 
and haughty ? Should he be cold and indifferent ? Were he to 
present himself thus, would he deserve the pardon, the cure, the 
divine assistance which he solicits ? Sinners, you have all offended 
the Lord, — you have all despised the laws of God, — you have re- 
volted against the Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, — you have 
trampled under foot the orders and commandments of your heavenly 
Father ; must you not therefore humble yourselves in the presence 
of your Judge ? Must not the pangs which proceed from the 
wounds inflicted upon your souls by sin, wring from your hearts 
sighs of regret ? And if you feel as you ought the sad state in 
which sin has left you, will not sadness and grief be depicted upon 
your countenance, when you go to deposit the secret of your mis- 
fortunes in the bosom of your confessor, the best and dearest friend 
you have on earth ? What a beautiful example of repentance do 
you not behold in the publican mentioned in the Gospel ! He 
stops at the entrance of the temple ; — he dares not advance to the 
altar of the Lord ; — he keeps his eyes steadfastly fixed on the 
earth, deeming himself not worthy to raise them toward heaven ; — 
he strikes his breast, and exclaims : God, be merciful to me, a 



sinner. 



What then must we think of numberless Christians of our times, 
who come to Confession without the least degree of humility ; who 
consider it as a disgrace, as a degradation to humble themselves in 
the sacred tribunal ; who dread being recognized as penitents, and 
who, when they are induced to perform this sacred duty, take 
special care that they will be seen by as few as possible ? What 
must we think of those penitents, who, at the very moment when 
they ought to be absorbed in recalling to mind their sins and exciting 
in their hearts a deep sorrow for them, suffer their eyes to gaze in 
idle curiosity on every object around them, who laugh, jest and joke 
with their neighbors, whom they distract, and finally, hurry with 
scandalous violence into the confessional? What must we think 
of those penitents, who do not accuse themselves, but boldly and 
unblushingly relate the history of their sins, and demand absolution, 



* St. Luke, xviii ; 13. 
34 



102 SHORT SERMONS. 

not as a favor, but rather as a reward of tlieir insolence ? What 
must we think of those penitents who suffer themselves to get into 
angry disputes with their confessor, resist his advice, repel his 
counsels, and reject the penance which he thinks it his duty to 
impose upon them, and tell him that they will never again go to 
Confession, when, for good reasons, he, in his wisdom and prudence, 
judges it necessary to defer absolution ? Do these Christians con- 
fess their sins with humility and repentance ? Can they hope that 
God will receive them into His favor and friendship and extend to 
them the forgiveness of their sins ? 

Ah ! my Brethren, if you wish that the Sacrament of Penance 
should blot out the sins that defile your souls, humble yourselves in 
the presence of God. Call to mind what you have done, what you 
have lost, what you were, and what you have become. You have 
sinned ; you have lost the friendship of God, and all your rights to 
the kingdom of heaven ; you were children of God, and you have 
become the slaves of Satan. Alas ! how guilty you have become, — 
you who commit mortal sin ! How deserving of eternal chastise- 
ments ! But God, in His mercy, wills not the death of a sinner, but 
that he should be converted, and that the humble Confession of his 
faults should efface his crime and restore him to life. Come there- 
fore, you who are laden with iniquity, — come to your Physician, — 
come to the tribunal of Jesus Christ, but come with humble and con- 
trite hearts ; and, no matter how disgusting may be your disease, no 
matter how deep may be the wounds of your soul, the priest of God 
will pour upon them the oil and wine of divine grace, and they shall 
be healed. Though you have committed the greatest iniquities, — 
the most frightful and execrable crimes, come, make an humble, 
sincere and sorrowful Confession of them, — and all will be forgiven 
you, — the friendship of God will be restored to you, — the priest of 
the Most High will open to you anew the road to heaven. — Amen. 



ON CONFESSION. 403 



S Eli 31 ON LXXXIII, 
ON CONFESSION.— (CoNTiNTJED.) 



** Be not ashamed to confess thy sius." — ^Ecclesiasticus, iv : 31 . 

In our last instruction, I endeavored to convince you of the 
necessity of Confession, and to prove to you that it is of divine 
institution ; I told you that, if we go to confess our sins to the 
priest, it is because Jesus Christ has commanded us to do so ; that 
our Confession must be made with great humility of heart, because 
every sinner is a culprit, who comes into the presence of God to 
implore His mercy, and to obtain His grace and pardon. To-day, 
I will proceed to explain the other qualities which should be found 
in a good Confession. The Confession must not only be humble, it 
must also be sincere and entire. 

What must you do to render your Confession sincere ? To make 
a sincere Confession, you must declare your sins with simplicity, as 
you know them, after a careful and serious examination of con- 
science, without diminishing, augmenting or excusing them. You 
must tell things as they are, as they exist in your mind and con- 
science, without disguising or concealing any thing ; you must mani- 
fest your soul, such as it is, to the view of Christ's minister, that 
he may grant or defer absolution, with a complete knowledge of 
your case and according to the dispositions which he shall recognize 
in your heart. It is not indeed your desire to insult the divine 
Mercy, by boldly lying in the tribunal of penance ; that would be 
too frightful ; but you are afraid lest your confessor might knoAv 
you too well : therefore, yielding to this false shame, you cloak 
yourself up, you disguise yourself, artfully mixing one thing with 
another, gliding rapidly over what you are unwilling to express 
fully ; in a word, lifting only in part the veil which covers your 
conscience. Do not deceive yourself, for you have made only a 



404 SHORT SERMONS. 

piecemeal Confession, a Confession imperfect and null ; you have 
not received pardon, for God hath said : ** Woe to them that are 
of a double heart."* 

Instead of avowing his guilt and confessing his sin, Adam re- 
plied to the Lord : the woman whom Thou hast given me, made 
me eat of this fruit. Eve, on her part, cast the blame on the ser- 
pent. Is it not thus that you act in Confession ? Do you not 
attribute your faults sometimes to the violence of temptation, 
sometimes to the solicitations of persons with whom you have 
sinned, or to the occasions into which others enticed you ? One 
man says : I often get angry, but then, I have a wife who contra- 
dicts me in every thing. Another says : I have committed this 
foul sin, but I could not help it, my passions are so fiery and 
violent ! I have committed such and such sins, but it was because 
I have been drawn into bad company. I was allured into- the 
dangerous and fatal occasion of evil. Why try to disguise your- 
selves ? Why attempt to shift the blame from your own shoulders ? 
You gain nothing by it ; for Cod sees the deplorable wound of your 
conscience through all these subterfuges. The prophet David, said : 
*'I have acknowledged my sin to Thee, and my injustice I have 
not concealed. I said I will confess against myself my injustice 
to the Lord ; and Thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin."f 
Sinners, you also will experience the salutary effect of the mercies 
of the Lord, if you make an humble, sincere and entire Confession 
of the sins which weigh upon your conscience. 

What must be done to render your Confession entire? You 
must accuse yourselves of all the mortal sins which you have com- 
mitted, and declare their number and notable circumstances, especi- 
ally such as change their species. 

God requires that you should express the species of sin, without 
which, your confessor will not know the fault which you have com- 
mitted, neither can he estimate its grievousness, nor apply the 
proper remedies. For example, it will not do to say to the priest : 
**I accuse myself of having committed some mortal sins;" you 
must tell what are these mortal sins : for, who does not know that 
it is one thing to blaspheme, another, and a very different thing to 

* Ecclesiasticus, ii : 14. f Psalms, xxxi ; 5. 



ON CONFESSION. 405 

Steal or to ^et drunk ? But is it sufficient to tell what is called the 
genus or kind of sin which you have committed, as, for example, 
to say : "I have sinned against charity ?" No ; you must specify 
the act, and make known to your confessor whether it was by 
slander, detraction, calumny, rash judgments or some other way, 
that you committed the sin against charity. 

That your Confession may be entire, you must declare "the 
number of times that you have committed each sin," for, each time 
that you relapsed into the same sin you committed a new offence, 
and you must bring to the tribunal of the confessor your sins such 
as you know them. Thus, to say that you have committed a mortal 
sin only twice, while you know, or you would have known, had you 
taken the trouble to examine your conscience properly, that you had 
committed it three or four times, is to conceal one or two sins, — 
it is to make a sacrilegious Confession. But the confessor asks the 
penitent to state the number of his sins, and he is answered : "I 
did it sometimes, — not often." What should we think of these 
forms of expression ? That they are too vague, and are sufficient 
only when we can give no more definite answer. But you have 
fallen so often into such a sin, that it is impossible to determine the 
number of your falls ; you must, then, at least, state the length of 
time you have remained in the habit of that sin, and you must tell 
as nearly as possible, how often you committed it during the day, 
week, or month. 

That your Confession may be entire, you must also declare all 
the circumstances which change the species of the sin, that is, those 
circumstances which add to the malice peculiar to one sin, a new 
malice of a different nature. For example, a man steals from a 
Church ; this sin, beside its being contrary to justice, is also 
opposed to the virtue of religion, and is a sacrilege. If then this 
man should go to Confession, and content himself with saying to 
his confessor, I accuse myself of having stolen such an article, who 
does not see that, if he declares the theft, he conceals the sacrilege, 
and that his Confession is not entire? 

You must also confess the notably aggravating circumstances, 
that is, those which, without changing the species of the sin, yet 
materially increase its malice. For example, you have unfortu- 
nately stolen fifty cents from a very poor person ; it is evident that 



406 SHORT SEHMONS. 

this is a mucli greater sin than if you had stolen this sum from a 
very rich man, or had only taken a few cents. 

Finally, that your Confession may be entire, you must declare the 
bad intention with which you committed the sin. For example, 
you have given expression to a light detraction ; but by it you 
wished to awaken evil suspicions in the mind of your hearer, and 
to injure considerably the person against whom you uttered the 
detraction; you must accuse yourself of this circumstance in Con- 
fession. You must also accuse yourself of the sins which you 
suffered others to commit, while you could and ought to have pre- 
vented them. You must accuse yourself of the scandals which 
you have given, the injuries which you have caused to your neigh- 
bor, in his honor, his reputation or his goods. 

Do you receive pardon for a mortal sin, of which you do not 
accuse yourselves, because, after due and sufficient examination, you 
did not remember it? Yes, this sin is remitted with the others; 
but, if you remember it afterward, you are obliged to mention it in 
your next Confession. While on the other hand, if by grievously 
culpable negligence, you voluntarily or through malice, omit one 
mortal sin in Confession, not only you do not obtain the remis- 
sion of the sins which you have declared, but you burden your soul 
with a new mortal sin, and you must repeat the whole Confession, 
and add to it the avowal of the sacrilege which you have per- 
petrated. 

To make a good Confession, — you must then accuse yourselves 
of your sins with frankness, candor and sincerity, — you must declare 
with sorrow all the mortal sins of which you are guilty, without 
reserve, — without exception. 

In vam may one say that he is ashamed to declare all his sins ; 
this pretext is null before God. You ought to be ashamed of sin, 
but, when it is a question of obtaining the pardon of sin, you must 
be above all shame, — you must go and accuse yourself to the priest. 
It is a numiliation which God imposes upon the sinner, — it is the 
beginning of penance. But you have not courage, you tell me, to 
accuse yourself of this sin. Of what are you afraid ? is it lest it 
may be divulged? certainly not, for you very well know that 
your confessor is forbidden, under the most terrible anathemas, 
ever to utter a word of what he knows only by Confession. You 



ON CONFESSION. 407 

can not find a single example of this crime; — a special Providence 
watches over the seal of Confession. 

What then do you fear ? That you might lose the esteem of 
your director, and destroy the good opinion which he had of you ? 
Do not believe that the sins you have to declare are so great that 
your confessor never heard the like before ; — on the contrary, be 
persuaded that far more grievous ones have been confessed to him. 
He is a physician, accustomed to see and examine the most loathsome 
sores ; he treats with most gentleness those whose wounds are 
deepest ; he loves them, and esteems them the more for their cour- 
age in revealing themselves, and showing forth plainly the sad state 
of their souls. He is a father, who has no words but those of con- 
solation, — no tears but those of joy for the prodigal son whom 
grace brings back to him. Fear not then, — far from decreasing the 
good opinion your confessor has of you, your frankness, your 
sincerity, and the confidence you testify toward him, touch his 
heart, edify him, and place you far higher in his esteem and affec- 
tion. But my sin is so shameful ! '* What," cries out St. Augustine, 
**you were not ashamed to commit the sin, why then are you 
ashamed to declare it. It is the devil who inspires you with this 
shame, fearing lest his prey should escape him." What do you 
hope to gain by concealing this sin ? You can not deceive God, — 
He beholds it, no matter how deep you may bury it in your soul. 
You may succeed in deceiving the priest, so that he pronounces over 
you the words of absolution, but God ratifies them not in heaven. 
What then do you hope for ? That later you may have more 
courage ? The longer you defer, the more obstacles will you have 
to surmount, and the more your shame will increase. You are abus- 
ing grace : your heart will become more and more hardened, because 
of your infidelity, and the sacrileges which you commit by receiving 
the sacraments in the state of mortal sin. Thus you will go on 
heaping sacrilege upon sacrilege — you will reach your last sickness, 
and on your bed of death you will still be ashamed to declare your 
sin, and will not tell it. The priest will ask you, is there any thing 
more to be told ? and you will answer : No ! Fatal word, — which 
sets the seal on your reprobation, and plunges your soul into eternal 
flames ! Terrible word ; I hear it reechoing along the infernal vaults, 
and see how it rejoices hell. Miserable man that you are, you were 



408 SHORT SERMONS. 

not willing to declare this sin and save yonr soul, and now God is 
about to manifest it before the world. For all eternity you shall 
see this sin, — it will be seen, engraved on your heart in the midst 
of the fires which shall eternally devour you. 

my God ! cast a look of compassion on those who hear me, 
touch their hearts, fill them with compunction, with sincerity and 
with courage ; — bring them contrite and humbled to the tribunal of 
peace and reconciliation, that there a sincere Confession of their 
sins may snatch them from the hands of the demon, may place 
them on the right of your divine Son, and render them happy for- 
ever. — Amen. 



SERMON LXXXIV. 
ON SATISFACTION OR PENANCE 



" Bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy of penance." — St. Luke, iii : 8. 

Satisfaction is the reparation of the injury which has been offered 
to God by sin. Considered as a part of the Sacrament of Penance, 
it consists in the Avorks which the priest enjoins upon the penitent 
to repair the injury done to God and to serve as a preservative 
against relapse. To obtain the remission of your sins, in the 
Sacrament of Penance, you must join to contrition and confession, 
the will to perform the penance or satisfaction which your confessor 
shall see proper to impose. However, if you neglect to fulfill it, 
though this would be a sin, nevertheless, the effects of absolution 
still subsist. I say that it is a sin not to perform the penance im- 
posed by the priest, because, it is depriving the sacrament of its 
integral part, it is neglecting the reparation which God demands. 
But does God require no satisfaction but that which His minister 
imposes ? He also Avishes that the sinner would do true penance 
during his whole life. To teach you how you can easily perform 
this penance is the end I propose to myself in this instruction. 

Jesus Christ, His Apostles, His Church and the tradition of all 



ON SAT I FACT! UN OR PENANCE. 409 

ages tell iis ttiat there are but two ways to attain heaven, namely : 
the way of innocence and the way of penance. Alas ! how few there 
are who preserve the precious treasure of innocence, wherewith they 
were enriched at their baptism ! It Avas to us then that our divine 
Saviour addressed himself when he said: "Unless you do penance, 
you shall all perish." But w411 it be sufficient to satisfy God, if we 
confine ourselves to the avowal of our guilt and cease to live in sin ? 
"No," says St. Gregory, "the mouth that has vomited forth blas- 
phemies does not repair them by silence. No man pays his debts 
by merely ceasing to contract new ones." Thus, sins are not expi- 
ated, — are not repaired by simply ceasing to commit them anew. 

What ! has not our divine Saviour satisfied for mankind by dying 
on the cross ? Yes, my Brethren ; but to profit us, the merits of the 
Man-God must be applied to us, and they are so only in so far as it 
pleases God, and in the manner and on the conditions which He 
has a right to demand. In Baptism the application of the merits 
of the cross is complete ; every thing is done there, in some manner 
at the expense of the Saviour, and our sin is entirely and immedi- 
ately blotted out. But it is not so with the Sacrament of Penance. 
God desires exceedingly to snatch you from the jaws of hell ; but, 
because you have broken the first alliance, you must be punished ; 
your sin is forgiven and the eternal torments due to it remitted, but 
there still remains a temporal punishment which you must suffer, 
either in this life, or in purgatory ; there still remains the obligation 
of satisfying the justice of God. 

To satisfy God and discharge the debt contracted by sin, we must 
take up our cross, walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, and follow 
Him along the road of sufferings ; we must, in a word, do penance 
by fasting, alms and prayer. Nevertheless, let this not alarm our 
weakness : I can assure you that penance is practicable in every 
state of life ; that we can very easily make atonement for our sins, 
and at a very small cost.— But do you not say that penance must be 
made by fasting, alms-deeds and prayer? I do, my Brethren, but 
it is a kind of fasting which the most delicate, nay, even sick per- 
sons can easily practice ; it is a kind of prayer which every one can 
adopt, and a species of alms which comes within the reach of the 
poorest man. 

You can not fast, — your feeble and delicate health forbids it,— - 
3.5 



410 SIIOKT SERMONS. 

the toilsome life you lead will not permit it. Do we fast only when 
we abstain from eating meat and lessen the quantity of our meals ? 
No, my Brethren, you also fast when you deprive yourselves of 
those things which flatter your self-love, your sensuality, your 
passions and .your evil inclinations. You practice a fast most 
agreeable to God, when, through a spirit of penance and mortifi- 
cation, you deprive yourselves of any thing which, without being 
prohibited or bad in itself, still would afford you some pleasure. 
For instance, a young man delights in the society of some friends. 
If he deny himself this pleasure through a motive of love for God ; 
if, instead of visiting those friends on Sunday, he goes to the church 
and assists at High Mass and Vespers, oh, he practices a fast most 
precious in the sight of the Lord, — a most meritorious fast. A 
new fashion springs up, and this young girl wishes to adopt it ; 
her parents permit her, and even furnish her with means to gratify 
her wish ; but through a motive of mortification she denies herself 
this gratification : oh, this privation is also a fast most pleasing to 
God and most meritorious. A man does you an injury : it is in 
your power to revenge the wrong, — to render evil for evil; but you 
forgive, — you refuse to seek satisfaction for the wrong which has 
been done you ; here again is an acceptable and most meritorious 
fast. You, poor laborers, — who toil so hard from yearns end to 
year's end, if through the spirit of mortification and love of God, 
you bear your trials and toils ; if you ofier to God the sweat of 
your brow, your privations and sufferings ; if you unite them to the 
sujfferings and sorrows of your Saviour, you practice a fast most 
pleasing to God and most meritorious ! You desire to increase 
your wealth and leave your children a fortune, but all your enter- 
prises are unsuccessful ; beside, sickness and adversity come upon 
you ; the desire springs up in your heart to see this cross removed, 
and your sufferings ended ; repress this desire, struggle against your 
impatience, accept the penance which the Lord, in His goodness im- 
poses, and this shall be a most salutary and most meritorious fast ! 
" For our present tribulation, which is momentary and light, work- 
eth for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory."* 
You understand now, my Brethren, that there is a way of fasting 

* 2 Corinthians, iv : 17. 



ON SATISFACTION OE PENANCE. 411 

wticli all of us can adopt and put in practice. Let us see if it be 
more difficult for us to pray. Do we pray only when by words we 
praise the Lord, implore His assistance or thank Him for His 
mercies ? No, my Brethren ; prayer is simply the elevation of the 
soul to God : we pray then when we refer to God whatever happens 
us ; — we pray when we humble ourselves in submission to His holy 
will, — when we receive with patience and resignation our crosses, 
because they are sent by Him ; we pray when we perform our daily 
labor for his honor, following the advice of St. Paul: "and 
whatever we eat or drink or whatever else we do, we do all for the 
glory of God." And where is the man who can not pray thus, 
many times in the day, even in the midst of the most toilsome 
work ? Where is the man who can not discharge the duties of his 
state in submission to the will of God, and resting on the merits of 
Jesus Christ, offer them to God from the bottom of his heart ? 
Where is the mother, who, without neglecting her household duties, 
may not often, during the day, elevate her soul and heart to her 
heavenly Father, and consecrate to Him the work of her hands ? 
Where is the servant or working man, who can not perform the 
duties of his station through love of God, and bear, by offering it to 
God in the spirit of penance, the heat and burden of the day ? Ah ! 
if he did, he would pray, and pray well. Adopt then the beautiful 
custom of elevating your souls to God every morning ; consecrate 
to Him, from the first moment you rise, your work, your duties 
and your trials ; sometimes, during the day, renew in your hearts 
this good intention, and, be assured, you will have prayed well, and 
performed a most salutary penance. 

But the Holy Ghost says to us: "Redeem your sins by alms." 
Can you do so, my Brethren ? Yes, you who are rich can, and, if 
you fail in doing so, yon are avaricious, — you are guilty of sin in 
the eyes of God, and your sins shall not be forgiven, for God par- 
dons not the wicked Dives. But does this obligation of redeeming 
their sins by alms concern only the rich ? No ! It binds all, for 
all of us can fulfill it. 

Alms-deeds consists not only in feeding the hungry, clothing the 
naked, and distributing money to the needy ; it is also an act of 
charity, agreeable to God and most profitable to your soul, to 
render a kind service to your neighbor, to assist him either corpor- 



412 SHORT SERMONS. 

ally or spiritually, whenever he stands in need of your assistance. 
You bestow alms when you visit the sick, console the afflicted, 
instruct the ignorant, or when by your good example and charitable 
counsel, you seek to correct the vicious, and bring back to virtue 
those who are going astray. How many occasions present them- 
selves for the exercise of these kind offices ! God furnishes you 
with many such opportunities every day, and the tnily charitable 
heart knows well how to make use of them. The father of a large, 
helpless family may not be able to give pecuniary aid to his poor 
neighbor, whom misfortune has reduced to want ; but he can give 
him good advice, he can console him in his miseries, and perhaps be 
instrumental in procuring him assistance from other persons more 
favored with the good things of this world. All of us can some- 
times do good to our neighbor. A laboring man may not be in a 
condition to give money to the suffering poor, but he can at least 
bestow upon them his care, — ^he can assist them by working for 
them, by watching them when they are sick, and in many other 
ways lend them a helping hand : he can give good example to his 
companions and contribute to their edification and salvation ; he 
can pray for the unfortunate and recommend them to others who 
have it in their power to aid and relieve them. Was I not right 
then in telling you, my Brethren, that penance is easy ? We may 
perform it at every step we take. How blind then must be the 
sinner who does not profit by so favorable an opportunity of paying 
off the debts which he owes to the divine Justice ! It is easy to 
fast, easy to pray, easy to give alms. If we wish, all our pains, all 
our toils, all our works, all our tribulations may serve us as penance 
and satisfaction to God. But you must observe, my dear Brethren, 
that, to expiate our sins by this means, we must suffer all and accept 
■ all with patience and resignation ; we must offer all and unite all to 
the infinite merits of Jesus Christ ; we must keep ourselves in the 
state of grace, or at least in a sincere desire of placing ourselves in 
that state as soon as possible by a good confession. Adopting this 
precaution, we can lead a life common indeed in appearance, but in 
reality a holy life, one which will satisfy God, expiate our sins, 
preserve us from the sufferings and pains of purgatory, unite us to 
the train of our divine Lord, and conduct us to the happiness of 
heaven. — Aivien. 



ON INDULGENCES. 413 



SERMON LXXXV 
ON INDULGENCES, 



" Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." — St. 
Matthew, xviii : 18. 

The Sacrament of Penance effaces the sins committed after bap- 
tism, and purifies the soul from its stains ; it also remits the eternal 
punishment, but not always the temporal punishment due to sin, 
leaving to the sinner the obligation of expiating his crimes by pro- 
portionate satisfaction. Must we suffer this temporal punishment 
in all its rigor and in all its extent ? No, my Brethren ; the Church, 
in her truly maternal tenderness, comes to our assistance and delivers 
us from the burden of the punishment which we should otherwise 
have to undergo, either in this world or in purgatory ; she furnishes 
us with means of paying off the debts we have contracted toward 
God, and this means she offers us in what are called Indulgences. 
A brief explanation of these will form the subject-matter of our 
instruction to-day. 

What is an Indulgence? An Indulgence may be defined the 
remission of the whole or a part of the temporal punishment, which 
is due to the justice of God after the sin and eternal punishment 
have been remitted. This remission is granted out of the tribunal 
of penance, by the application of the sacred treasure of graces of 
which the* Church is the depository and dispensatrix. An Indul- 
gence does not remit sin, not even venial sin, nor the eternal punish- 
ment due to sin ; it can only affect the punishment to be suffered in 
this world or in purgatory. Indulgences are of two Ywi^^, 'partial 
and plenary. A partial Indulgence, as of forty days, of a hundred 
days, of seven years, is that which remits a part of the punishment 
due to sin. But you must not suppose that an indulgence of forty 
days or of seven years, obtains for him who gains it a liberation of 
forty days or of seven years from purgatory ; it refers to the 



414 SHOKT SERMONS, 

penance wliicli was prescribed by the ancient, canons. In the early- 
ages of Christianity, public penances, which sometimes lasted for 
many years, were imposed for certain sins. Sinners had to pray 
much, to pass their days in mourning and their nights in watching 
and weeping, to sleep on the ground in sackcloth and ashes, to 
clothe themselves with hair shirts, to fast, to give alms, and perform 
many other good works. This ancient discipline is no longer in 
force ; still the justice of God is always the same, and sin deserves 
no less punishment to-day than it did in those early ages. We 
commit many sins ; to expiate them we should do penance for 
many years, perhaps our whole life would not be sufficient. But the 
Church, ever animated and conducted by the Spirit of God, grants 
us Indulgences. At one time she remits a hundred days, seven years, 
or fifty years of penance which would have been imposed upon us 
according to the ancient regulations ; and consequently, the corres- 
ponding punishment which we would have to undergo in purgatory. 
At another time she opens still more generously the treasure con- 
fided to her maternal tenderness, and remits all the penance which 
we would have to perform, all the punishment which we would have 
to suffer in expiation of our sins, after the eternal guilt had been 
forgiven; such is the effect of a 'plenary Indulgence. The penitent 
who gains the whole of a plenaiy Indulgence is as pure and spotless 
before God as if he had but that instant been regenerated in Jesus 
Christ by Baptism. The Church has forgiven him all, — she has 
completely freed him from his bonds, by virtue of the supreme 
power which our divine Saviour gave to Peter when He said to 
him: *' Whatsoever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed also in 
heaven."* 

What then ! must we not atone for our sins ? Must we not 
satisfy the divine Justice in some way ? My Brethren, God could 
demand of us all that we owe Him, even to the last farthing ; 
but His infinite mercy permits the innocent to pay for the guilty, 
and that the superabundant satisfactions of Jesus Christ and His 
saints should turn to our profit and diminish our obligations and 
our debts. It is with the superabundant merits of the blessed 
Virgin and the saints, it is above all, with the infinite merits of 

* St. Matthew, xvi : 19. 



ON INDULGENCES. 415 

Jesus Christ, that the Church pays the debt which her children 
owe to divine Justice. This is the source whence she draws the 
graces which she grants them, the Indulgences which she distributes 
to them. The satisfaction which our divine Saviour presented to 
His Father, was of inexhaustible merit, — and " where sin abounded, 
grace hath abounded more."* One drop of His divine blood could 
have redeemed a thousand worlds, saved them from hell and recon- 
ciled them to Grod ; and yet all our Redeemer's blood was shed, — 
not a drop of it remained in His veins ! Jesus has therefore 
suffered infinitely more than was necessary for our redemption. 
And what has become of these superabundant satisfactions and 
merits ? He himself has placed them in the treasury of His Church, 
that she might apply them to us under the name of Indulgences. 

There has been and there is still on earth a countless number of 
holy servants of God, who have offered far more satisfaction for their 
faults to God than He required of them. Compute, if you can, 
the merits and satisfactions of the numberless holy martyrs, con- 
fessors and virgins, who, during so many ages have done such great 
things for God, — and add to this the merits and satisfactions of the 
multitude of living servants of God, who have always served Him 
with admirable fidelity, yet who lead such mortified, penitent lives. 
Compute, if you can, the merits and satisfactions of a John the 
Baptist, sanctified in his mother's womb ; the satisfactions and 
innumerable merits of the holy Mother of God, of Mary, the Queen 
of martyrs, of confessors and of Virgins, who never committed the 
slightest fault, who suffered so much, and who, every hour, every 
moment, at every throb of her heart, brought forth works so agreeable 
to God, so rich in satisfactions ? Well then, my Brethren, are all 
these satisfactions lost? No. The Church is the mother of all the 
saints; she therefore lawfully inherits the rich treasure of their 
merits, the keys of which she confides to the hands of the sov- 
reign pontiff and of bishops, that they may draw from it the 
spiritual goods which they impart to us under the name of Indul- 
gences. It is then the satisfactions of Jesus Christ and the saints 
that place us in the happy possibility of satisfying God and expi- 
ating our sins. The Church, our kind mother, acts in favor of 

* Romans, v : 20. 



416 S H «') K T S E K M O N fc^ . 

those who can only with difficulty atone for their sins in this world, 
like a good and charitable father, who, seeing some of his children 
overwhelmed with debts, gives them the money which his other 
children had transferred to him, to dispose of as he judged fit. 

It is true, Indulgences free us from years, — from ages of suffer- 
ing ; but is it the intention of the Church to release us from 
penance ? No, but to assist us is performing it ; therefore she 
grants Indulgences only to sinners who do every thing in their 
power to appease the divine justice ; she wishes to supply for their 
inability, and not to encourage their negligence. "The Church," 
says St. Cyprian, ''can use her clemency only in favor of true 
penitents, who sincerely endeavor to satisfy for their sins, and 
humbly beg the Indulgences of the Church ; such alone can be 
benefited by the recommendation of the martyrs and the Indulgence 
of the priests." 

To gain an Indulgence, it is therefore necessary to be in the state 
of grace, free from all mortal sin. While sin reigns in your heart, 
pardon can not enter it. It is absolutely necessary then that a 
sincere confession, accompanied with true repentance, reestablish 
your soul in the grace and friendship of God ; for an Indulgence can 
not be applied to such as remain His enemies. A plenary Indul- 
gence remits all the temporal punishment which our sins had 
merited for us, and which we would have had to suffer either in this 
world or the next. Surely this is a great blessing ; but to obtain it, 
is it sufficient to make a good confession ? A plenary Indulgence 
will efface all the temporal punishment still due to mortal sin when 
the eternal guilt has been remitted by the Sacrament of Penance ; 
it will produce the same effect with regard to the punishment which 
you deserved for venial sins, of which you repent ; but, if there 
be any venial faults for which you are not sorry, they are not par- 
doned, and they are not susceptible of an Indulgence ; so that, in 
this case, the Indulgence would not be plenary in its application. 
There are few who gain a plenary Indulgence, because there are 
few who detest all their venial sins. To gain an Indulgence, it is 
necessary that he who performs the work to which it is attached, 
should have the intention of gaining it. It is therefore good for 
the faithful to renew every morning the intention of gaining all the 
Indulgences attached to the pi-actices of piety which they may per- 



ON I N D U L G E N C E S . 4:17 

form during the day. And here let me remark the great favor 
which the Church grants to the faithful who are in the hahit 
of confessing their sins every week. She permits them, without 
making a new confession, to gain all the Indulgences which occur 
during the week, provided they can not reproach themselves with 
any grievous faults when these Indulgences are applied. Finally, to 
gain an Indulgence, we must perform exactly whatever is prescribed 
by the bull or brief granting the Indulgence, and we must perform 
it as it is prescribed; to all this we must join a true desire to satisfy 
God for our sins, — we must keep our hearts in a religious and 
penitent spirit. 

Endeavor to gain as many Indulgences as you can, that you may 
participate in the merits and satisfactions of Jesus Christ and His 
saints, that you may supply for your own w^eakness, and that you 
may shorten the punishment which would retard your eternal 
happiness. .It would be more perfect still to gain Indulgences 
through a pure desire for the glory of God, that He may be glori- 
fied in the remission of your sins and of the punishment due to 
them. Would we not esteem as foolish the man, who, loaded with 
debts, would nevertheless, refuse to take advantage of all just means 
in his power to release himself from them ? And how can we con- 
sider ourselves wise, if we neglect to pay the debts which we owe 
to God, while we can discharge them so easily ? There are Indul- 
gences attached to the greater portion of the pious works which 
we perform, and of the prayers which we say every day ; let us 
therefore put ourselves in a condition to gain them, if we wish to 
spare ourselves the intolerable pains of purgatory, and be the sooner 
admitted into the possession of eternal happiness, — a blessing I Avish 
you all. — Amen. 



418 SHORT SERMONS 



SERMON LXXXVI. 

ON EXTREME UNCTION 



'* Is any man sick among you ? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and 
let them pray over him, anointing him with oiL in the name of the Lord : 
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man : and the Lord shall raise 
him up : and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him." — St. James, v : 
14, 15. 

Baptism elevates us to the sublime dignity of children of God 
and of His Churcli, makes us members of Jesus Christ, and 
temples of the Holy Ghost. In Confirmation, this Divine Spirit 
descends upon us with the plenitude and magnificence of His gifts. 
The holy Eucharist makes us so many sanctuaries in which Jesus 
Christ condescends to dwell. Penance restores us to our former 
dignity, when sin has deprived us of it. Such are the means of 
salvation which the mercy of God has prepared for the course of 
our lives. But we must all one day die ; and when that hour is 
about to strike, religion, which purified man at his entrance into 
life, comes to sanctify him at his departure out of this world, by 
offering him the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, which is, as it 
were, the baptism of the new life which we receive at death. It is 
of this liberating sacrament that I mean to speak to you to-day. 

What is Extreme Unction ? Extreme Unction is a sacrament 
instituted for the spiritual and corporal comfort of sick persons. 
This sacrament is called Extreme Unction, because it is the last 
unction which the Christian receives. The first unction is made in 
Baptism, the second in Confirmation, and the last when he is 
dangerously ill. Though this word Extreme does not signify an 
extremity without hope, but the last unction which the Saviour 
instituted for the sanctification of men, yet it is not given in all 
kinds of sickness, but solely when a person is perceived to be in 
danger of death. The catechism of the Council of Trent, speaking 



ON EXTllEME UNCTION. 419 

of this sacrament, says : ''It is a very grievous sin to defer the holy 
Unction until, all hope of recovery now lost, life begins to ebb, and 
the sick person is fast verging into a state of insensibility. It is 
obvious that, if administered while the mental faculties are yet unim- 
paired, while reason still exercises her dominion, and the mind is 
still capable of eliciting acts of faith and of directing the will to 
sentiments of piety, the sacrament must contribute to a more 
abundant participation of the graces which it imparts." 

When was it that our divine Saviour instituted this sacrament ? 
It is generally believed that He instituted Extreme Unction, im- 
mediately after the Sacrament of Penance, and a little while before 
His Ascension. However this may be, the Apostle St. James has 
made known to us the institution of this sacrament, when he said : 
" Is any man sick among you ? Let him bring in the priests of the 
Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the 
name of the Lord : And the prayer of faith shall save the sick 
man : and the Lord shall raise him up : and if he be in sins, they 
shall be forgiven him." Obedient to this precept, the Church, since 
her establishment in the world, has never ceased to make use of this 
sacrament. 

According to the words of the Apostle, two things are essential 
to Extreme Unction, and constitute its matter and form ; these are 
the unction and the prayer which accompanies it. The unction or 
anointing is made with oil of olives, which the bishop consecrates on 
Holy Thursday. The holy oil is applied to each of the principal 
members of the sick person, to purify them from the sins of which 
they have been the organs and the instruments. While anointing, 
the priest pronounces this prayer : "May the Lord by this unction, 
and by His most tender mercy, forgive you whatever evil you have 
done by your sight, by your smell, and by your other senses." 
How powerful and efficacious is this prayer, since the Lord has 
promised that He will always hear it ! We ought therefore to 
return the most lively thanks to the goodness of our divine Saviour, 
who has bestowed upon us this precious gift ! But, alas ! how few 
are there who testify by their conduct a proper esteem and respect 
for this august sacrament ! On the contrary, many Christians seem 
to dread the idea of receiving it, when the minister of Jesus Christ 
deems it necessary to administer it to them. And why ? Simply 



420 S II O K T S E K M O N S . 

because they are ignorant of tlie salutary effects whicli this sacra- 
ment produces. 

Among these effects, there is ^one of great value, and of which 
St. James speaks. He hesitates not to assert that this sacrament 
blots out sins. If the sick man *' be in sins, they shall be forgiven 
him." Yes, Extreme Unction remits venial sins ; but does it also 
efface mortal sins ? Listen attentively to what I am about to say, 
and give thanks for it to the infinite goodness of God. Without 
doubt, the Sacrament of Penance is, after Baptism, the source 
whence God requires that we should seek the remission of our sins 
and the grace of reconciliation ; for this reason, this sacrament, 
when it can be received, should precede Extreme Unction : yet, it 
may happen that a person, after having received absolution and 
communion, falls into a mortal sin, of which he is not aware, and 
which he consequently will not confess ; it is possible that he may 
have received absolution and communion in a bad state, and yet be 
ignorant of it : in this case, if he receive Extreme Unction with a 
sincere sorrow for his sins, and if he place no obstacle in the M'^ay 
of this sacrament, he receives the remission of his faults as an effect 
proper to Extreme Unction, which has been instituted for this end 
by our bountiful Saviour. Hence this sacrament is called by the 
holy fathers the supplement and complement of penance. 

Extreme Unction effaces the residue of sin. But what do you 
understand by the residue of sin ? It is the temporal punishment 
which the sinner has to undergo in this world or in the next, in 
expiation of his mortal sins already pardoned, and of his other 
lighter faults. Extreme Unction delivers the sick person from 
them, but in proportion to the dispositions with which this sacra- 
ment is received. The residue of sin is also a certain sluggishness, 
a kind of disrelish for good, — a want of application and fervor for 
the things of God, — a certain languor, which results from the disease 
of the soul ; Extreme Unction cures us of all these and blots out 
whatever may be sinful in them. 

Another effect which Extreme Unction produces, is, that it gives 
us the grace of consolation, causes abundant blessings to descend 
into our hearts, strengthens us to die well, some with joy, others in 
tranquillity and peace, or, at least, without trouble and discourage- 
ment. It clothes the sick person with an invincible power to 



ON EXTREME UNCTION. 421 

overcome the tempter ; it imparts to the soul of the dying the hope 
of eternal rewards ; it strips death of its terrors and transforms it 
into an angel of heaven, summoning us from the miseries of this 
world and transplanting us into the abodes of ineffable delights. 
Listen to those beautiful words of the Council of Trent: "At the 
same time that the external unction is applied to the afflicted mem- 
bers of the sick man, the interior unction of the Holy Ghost is 
infused into his soul, comforting him, consoling him, and giving 
him strength to bear the rigors of his sickness, by exciting in him 
a great hope and confidence in the divine mercies." Whence, in 
fact, does it come, that this fond husband, so soon to be torn from 
the wife whom he loves with the tenderest affection, bears his 
separation with such calmness and patience ? How is this good 
father able to give his last blessing to his dear children with so 
much resignation ? Where has that poor sinner, lately so tormented 
by the pains of remorse, — where has he found such peace and tran- 
quillity that he seems to be replenished with consolations ? Oh ! 
the holy oil of Extreme Unction has fortified them, and enabled 
them to become thus triumphant in the combat against impatience, 
against the regret which might naturally arise from the breaking of 
the bonds which bind them to life, and against the terrors of death 
and its consequences. They are marked with the cross of Jesus 
Christ, the inexhaustible source of consolations and of graces : they 
feel and experience the truth of the promise made them by their 
blessed Lord, when He said : "Come to me all you who labor and 
are heavy laden and I will refresh you." Yes, my Brethren, the 
ministers of the living God, who are so often called to the death- 
beds of His servants, can assure you that Extreme Unction really 
produces in the souls of such as receive it worthily all these salutary 
effects and wonderful changes. 

How greatly then are those Christians to be pitied, who fear this 
sacrament so much, that all kinds of artifices must be resorted to, 
to induce them to receive it ! Can Ave have recourse too soon to 
consolations so necessary in that state when the world is about to 
forsake us, and friends and relations are powerless to comfort us ? 
But perhaps you regard this sacrament as the forerunner of death. 
You are in error if you do. Our blessed Lord instituted it not to 
hasten your death, but to hasten your cure. If God judges that 



422 SHOKT SERMONS. 

the recovery of health will conduce to your salvation ; if the pro- 
longation of your life will contribute to your own sanctification and 
the divine glory, the effect of the sacrament will certainly be to 
drive away your disease, and cure you. But, if you have recourse 
to this sacrament only when your life is despaired of, is it not a 
tempting of God to expect your cure from Him then ? 

How good Thou art, my God ! to show such mercy to us at 
the very time we are about to appear before Thy justice ! Permit 
not, Lord, that we pass out of life without the benefit of this 
sacrament. We do not wish to neglect any of the graces which 
Thy paternal bounty has prepared for us, and we shall endeavor to 
merit, by a truly Christian life, the favor which we implore from 
Thy mercy. From this moment we conjure Thee to grant us at the 
hour of death, the spirit of faith, of prayer, of penance and of 
compunction which should accompany the reception of Extreme 
Unction. May Thy mercy pardon us all, my God ! that Thy 
supreme justice may discover nothing to punish in our souls, — so 
that dying in Thy arms the death of the just, we may live eternally 
with Thee. — Amen. 



SERMON LXXXYII. 

HOLY ORDERS. 



"Let a man so look upon us as the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of 
the mysteries of God." — 1 Corinthians, iv : 1 . 

It was not sufficient for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ to 
have regenerated man in Baptism, to have fortified and strengthened 
him in the faith by Confirmation, to feed him with the bread of 
angels in the holy Eucharist, to wash him from all the stains of 
sin in Penance, and to sanctify his departure out of this world by 
Extreme Unction. Our loving Lord wished to establish other 
sacraments, to sanctify the two principal states of the world, 
namely : the state of priesthood and tliat of matrimony. We have 



HOLY ORDERS. 423 

yet to explain these two sacraments, and to-day I shall speak of 
the first of them, — Holy Orders. 

What the prophets had long before annomiced, Christ came to 
accomplish. He came to found a new kingdom, to promulgate a 
new law, to institute a new sacrifice, and consequently, a new priest- 
hood. Under the ancient law, the tribe of Levi alone was called 
by the Lord to exercise the functions of the priesthood, and to offer 
to God the sacrifices appointed by the Jewish religion. So, under 
the law of grace, it is not granted to all the faithful to be elevated 
to the dignity of the priesthood and to be invested with the powers 
necessary to exercise the sacred functions. According to the order 
established by our Saviour, those alone can offer sacrifice, who have 
received a special vocation from God, and who have been especially 
consecrated for these sublime functions by the reception of the Sacra- 
ment of Orders. 

Holy Orders, therefore, is a sacrament which gives power and 
grace to exercise, in a holy manner, the ecclesiastical functions. 
These functions are important, holy and sublime; therefore, the 
Church requires that those who aspire to them should make a long 
previous preparation, should receive several minor Orders, and only 
reach by degrees the high dignity of the priesthood. The first step 
toward the sanctuary is the reception of tonsure. The prince of 
the Apostles, St. Peter, instituted this holy ceremony in memory 
of our blessed Lord's crown of thorns, that, what had served in the 
hands of the wicked as a humiliation and torment to Jesus Christ, 
might become for the Apostles a sign of honor and of glory. This 
tonsure, or shaving of the crown of the head, reminds the ministers 
of the Church, that having renounced the world, they belong hence- 
forward specially to God, are consecrated to His service, and must 
henceforth live only for their divine Master. 

Having received tonsure, the candidate for the ministry goes on 
step by step through the four minor Orders, until he reaches the 
Holy Orders, which consecrate him irrevocably to the service of the 
altar. He becomes a sub-deacon, that is to say, he is called to serve 
the deacon at the altar. If he be admitted to deaconship, he re- 
ceives the power of serving, on solemn occasions, the priest during 
the celebration of the divine mysteries and of singing the Gospel. 
In fine, the deacon receives the third Holy Ordei", in which this 



424 SHORT SERMONS. 

sacrament properly consists, and is made a priest of the Lord. It 
is the office of the priest to preside over the assemblies which are 
held in the Church to render to God the worship that is due to 
Him; it is the priest who consecrates the bread and wine and 
changes them into the body and blood of Jesus Christ ; it is the 
priest who receives, by the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the power 
of judging consciences, of remitting or retaining sins, of adminis- 
tering most of the sacraments, of preaching the word of God to 
the faithful, of explaining to them the truths of religion and of 
blessing persons and things. If the priest be elevated to the 
dignity of the Episcopacy, he receives the plenitude of the priest- 
hood. Bishops are, by divine right, superior to priests. The Holy 
Ghost has appointed them to govern the Church, and, as it belongs 
to them to ordain the inferior clergy, they have jurisdiction over 
them. All bishops are equal among themselves as to the power of 
Orders, which was given by Jesus Christ, at the same time, and in 
the same measure to the Apostles, whose successors the bishops are. 
But the Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter, has the primacy, 
not only of honor and precedence, but also of authority and juris- 
diction over all the other bishops. All are subject to his keys, both 
pastors and flocks. Bishops are pastors with regard to the flocks 
confided to their care, but they are sheep with respect to the pope,— 
with respect to Peter. 

Who can tell the dignity of the priesthood and the greatness of 
the priest ? The first man was great, because God had appointed him 
king of the whole universe ; Moses was great, when, by one word, 
he separated the waters of the sea. Josue was great, when he said 
to the sun: *' Stay thy course !" and the sun stood still. But, my 
Brethren, there is one still greater, — there is a man, who, every day 
opens the gates of heaven, and addressing himself to the Son of 
the Eternal God, says to Him : ** Descend from Thy throne, come, 
that I may place Thee where I wish, that I may give Thee to whom 
I please, that I may immolate Thee to Thy Father !" and He comes, 
this Omnipotent God comes to become incarnate in the hands of 
this man and to obey his voice. This man is the priest. He is 
truly all-powerful in heaven, — ^he is all-powerful on earth. A man 
has fallen into sin, — into the chains of Satan; what power can 
deliver him ? Angels can not ; the ever glorious Mary, Mother of 



HOLY ORDERS. 425 

God and Queen of angels and of men, can praj for the unfortunate 
wretch, but she can not absolve him from his slightest fault. But 
the priest speaks, and his chains are broken ; he says : "I absolve 
thee," and his sins are blotted out forever. Thus, the priest, 
powerful as God himself, can, in an instant, snatch the sinner from 
hell, and render him worthy of heaven ; God himself is obliged to 
abide by the judgment of His minister, and to refuse or grant for- 
giveness according as the priest refuses or grants absolution, for 
Jesus Christ has said to priests : " Whatsoever you shall bind upon 
earth, shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose 
upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven."* How great the power ; 
how exalted the dignity of the priest ! He is a man more than 
angelic, since his ministry truly elevates him above the angels ; he 
is a divine man, since a God obeys him. venerable dignity ! I 
am not astonished to find at the Council of Nice, the master of the 
world, the great Emperor Constantine, unwilling to occupy any but 
the last place, one below the humblest priest in the assembly, and 
refusing to take his seat until he had obtained their permission. 
How profound then should be your respect for the priests of the 
Lord ! and what gratitude should you not testify toward them ! 

The good priest, by his prayers, by his instructions and by his 
charity, is your greatest benefactor. 

In the contest for eternal life you have powerful enemies to con- 
tend with ; the Apostle tells you, that it is not against enemies of 
flesh and blood you have to struggle, but against the principalities 
of hell, and you are withal so weak ! Who then shall render you 
strong and give you the victory ? Every day, and many times 
every day, the prayer of the priest ascends to heaven, and returns 
loaded with graces for you, full of strength and succor. It is this 
prayer which infuses into your heart courage and energy, and puts 
to flight your enemies. Every day, numberless sins all over the 
world excite the anger of God. In His just wrath He would strike 
you for your share in them, if it were not that the priest offers 
to Him the adorable sacrifice of propitiation, the divine Victim, 
that appeases His anger and averts from your heads His eternal 
vengeance. 



* St. Matthew, xviii : 18. 
36 



426 SHORT SERMONS. 

It is tlie priest who has destroyed the empire of error in this 
world ; to him Jesus Christ has given the commission to teach all 
truths to all nations ; from his lips we learn true science, — the 
science of salvation. What is man ? Whence does he come ? 
He knows not. Whither does he go ? He knows not. What 
road must he take ? What duties has he to fulfill ? What does 
he owe to God ? What is his destiny ? Man knows nothing of 
all these things. Is he then condemned to live in this dreadful 
state of uncertainty and douht ? Yes, if religion come not with 
her divine light, to dispel the clouds of darkness that hang over 
his mind. But the priest is there ; as a faithful guide, he comes 
to take you hy the hand from your very childhood ; to point out to 
you the road you have to travel ; to fill your minds and your hearts 
with the knowledge and love of truth ; to disclose to you heaven, 
and tell you that your destiny here, is to render yourselves worthy 
of a place in that house of your heavenly Father. 

The priest loves you : he understands better than any one else 
those words of our Lord : " love one another as I have loved you ;" 
and, in his heart he preserves toward you the affectionate sentiments 
which filled the heart of the good Shepherd of our good Jesus, 
whose representative and vicar he is among you. You are ever 
present to his mind; he rejoices with you; he shares your sorrows, 
your disgrace and your miseries, and he endeavors, by every means 
at his command, to mitigate them ; he makes himself all to all, 
because he loves you all, and because he wishes to gain you all to 
Christ, — to make you all happy. Therefore, he makes himself the 
guide of childhood, to preserve its innocence ; the charitable censor 
of youth, the counselor of manhood, and the consoler of old age. 
This good pastor cordially loves his flock, he preaches to them, 
instructs them, exhorts them ; he is instant in season, and out of 
season, he reproves, entreats, rebukes with all patience and doctrine ;* 
if he is sometimes severe, it is his fatherly care and love that makes 
him so ; — as for the rest, were it necessary, he would gladly lay 
down his life for his flock. 

My Brethren, acknowledge the grandeur and dignity of the priest ; 
learn to appreciate the good that he is called on to perform among 

* 2 Timothy, iv: 2. 



ON THE SACK A ME NT OF MATRIMONY. 427 

you and the love which he bears you. Respect him as the ambassa- 
dor of Jesus Christ, honor him as the minister of the thrice holy 
God, love him as a friend, as a brother, as a father. He prays for 
you, pray also for him, that he may be always a good, wise, pru- 
dent, and enlightened pastor, to guide you, and go with you to the 
sovereign Pastor of souls, to that happy land where joy everlasting 
reigneth. — Amen. 



SERMON LXXXVIII. 

ON THE SACRAMENT OP MATRIMONY 



" This is a great sacrament : but I speak in Christ and in the Church." — 
Ephesians, V : 32. 

God himself instituted marriage, w^hen, having created Adam 
and Eve, He said to them: "Increase and multiply, and fill the 
earth." Adam received his companion from the hands of the 
Lord, and pronounced these mysterious words : *' This now is bone 
of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. . . . Wherefore a man shall leave 
father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife : and they shall be 
two in one flesh."* Marriage therefore, is a holy union, which God 
established in the world, and which Jesus Christ was pleased to 
elevate to the dignity of a sacrament. This is what the Council of 
Trent has decided in these words : "Matrimony, in the Evangelical 
law, is more excellent than the ancient marriages, on account of the 
grace which it confers through Jesus Christ ; it is with reason there- 
fore, that the holy fathers, the councils, and the universal tradition 
of the Church have, in every age, taught that it is rightly numbered 
among the sacraments of the new law.f Pay attention to me 
now, while I speak to you of this sacrament, which the Apostle 
calls great. 

* Genesis, ii : 23, 24. f Session 24. 



4:28 SHORT SERMONS. 

Matrimony is a sacrament sanctifying the union of man and 
woman, and giving them grace to rear up their children in the love 
and fear of God. Many holy fathers think that this sacrament was 
instituted hy Jesus Christ when He assisted at the marriage feast 
in Cana of Galilee, where He blessed and sanctified not only the 
marriage which was there contracted, hut marriage in general. 
However this may he, it is certain that the Apostle St. Paul 
reveals to us the institution of the Sacrament of Mati'imony, when 
he calls it a ** great sacrament in Jesus Christ and in the Church," 
that is, a sacred sign of the bond which unites Jesus Christ to the 
Church, His spouse. 

Such, indeed, my Brethren, is the glorious privilege of Christian 
marriage, that it represents the union of the Saviour with His Church. 
As Jesus Christ, the only Son of the heavenly Father, descended 
from heaven to unite himself to the Church, so the husband leaves 
his father and mother to unite himself to his wife. The Church 
has been formed from Jesus Christ, dead on the cross : woman has 
been formed from man while he slept. Jesus Christ is the head of 
the Church, the husband is the head* of the wife. Jesus Christ 
protects, directs and conducts the Church to heaven ; the husband 
must be the protector, — the guide of his wife ; he must show her 
the road to heaven, but far more by his example than by his words. 
Jesus Christ and the Church constitute but one, — one and the 
same spirit animates them ; man and woman are but one and the 
same flesh, — one and the same spirit ought to animate them. 
Jesus Christ tenderly loves His Church, but He loves her in view 
of her eternal happiness, and the Church, on her part, respects 
her divine Spouse, and preserves inviolable fidelity toward Him ; 
in like manner, the husband should love his wife, but in view 
of her salvation; and the wife should respect her husband and 
preserve invincible fidelity to him. Jesus Christ is inseparably 
united to the Church; in like manner, the union which exists 
between the husband and the wife is indissoluble, one which death 
alone can sever. 

It is thus, my Brethren, that our divine Saviour, by elevating 
marriage to the dignity of a sacrament, has made it the image and 
the sacred sign of a great mystery, of his intimate and eternal 
union with His Church, and He has been pleased that it should 



ON THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY. 429 

become a source of spiritual blessings for those who receive it with 
Christian dispositions. It is a certain truth that those who many 
after having consulted God, and with motives which God can 
approve, receive, by virtue of this sacrament, sanctifying gi-ace, 
which greatly augments the sanctity of their souls, and along with 
this, numerous efficacious succors which help them to fulfill their 
hoW duties, to live in piety and peace, to bear with patience the 
troubles of this life, and to rear up in a Christian-like manner, 
and in the practice of virtue, the children whom God may give 
them. 

If, my Brethren, now-a-days there are many Christians, who, 
receiving this sacrament, do not experience these happy effects ; if 
they live together in trouble and enmity ; if they are troubled and 
impatient, in the midst of the cares and annoyances inseparable 
from marriage ; if they find themselves unable to make their child- 
ren wise and virtuous; if they neglect them, and abandon them 
to their evil inclinations ; if, in a word, they render them miserable 
both for time and eternity, let them attribute this misfortune to 
themselves alone. Be satisfied that these evils have come upon 
them, because they entered the marriage state Avithout having been 
called thereto by God ; they have received this sacrament with bad 
dispositions ; they have refused to cooperate with the divine grace, 
or have rendered themselves unworthy of it by actions which God 
condemns, and which sully the union that they have contracted at 
the foot of His altars. 

Is marriage necessary ? It is necessary to perpetuate the human 
race ; it is necessary to give children to the Church and saints to 
heaven. Here you see the reason why our Lord raised this natural 
contract to the dignity of a sacrament. But all are not obliged to 
receive it.' The Apostle St. Paul tells us that "he that giveth his 
virgin in marriage, doeth well ; and he that giveth her not, doeth 
better."* It is certain that our Lord elevated virginity above 
Matrimony ; but all are not called to this perfection, and each one 
must follow his or her vocation. 

The youthful Tobias said to Sara, his wife : **we are children 
of saints ; and we must not be joined together like heathens 

* 1 Coriathians, vii : 38. 



430 SlIOitT SEKMONS. 

that know not God."* You therefore who believe yourselves called 
to the marriage state, learn the ends for which the Lord established 
this sacrament among men. 

When the Lord had created man to live in society, He said to 
him: ''Increase and multiply, and fill the earth." The Lord 
desired to prepare for himself adorers who would people successively 
earth and heaven; who, having one after the other glorified Him 
during their short pilgrimage in this world, might all together 
glorify him in the abode of immortality, for everlasting ages. This 
is the reason why we repeat to Christians about to enter into this 
holy alliance, those beautiful words which the angel of the Lord 
addressed to young Tobias: "Thou shalt take a virgin from the 
hands of her parents, with the fear of the Lord, moved rather for 
love of children than for lust, that in the seed of Abraham, thou 
mayest obtain a blessing in children. But when thou shalt take 
her, give thyself to nothing else but to prayers with her ; for they 
who, in such manner receive Matrimony, as to shut out God from 
themselves, and from their mind, and to give themselves to their 
lust, as the horse and mule, which have not understanding, over 
them the devil hath power. "f 

Nevertheless, let those whom sad experience has proved that to 
live in celibacy, is for them an occasion of sin, not delay to seek, 
in an honorable and virtuous marriage, the means of preserving 
themselves against the sins of the flesh, and above all, an efficacious 
remedy against the dangers of their own concupiscence. It is not 
I, but the Apostle St. Paul, who clearly inculcates this : "I would 
that all men were even as myself: but every one hath his proper 
gift from God ; one after this manner, and another after that. But 
I say to the unmarried and to the widows : It is good for them if 
they so continue, even as I. But if they do not contain them- 
selves, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn"! 
with the fires of concupiscence in this life and hereafter in the ever- 
lasting flames of hell, 

Alas ! my Brethren, how many imfortunate Christians now suffer 
and shall forever suffer the dreadful torments of hell, for not hav- 
ing complied with this advice of the Apostle ! How many there 

* Tobias, viii : 5. f Tobias, vi. t 1 Corinthians, vii : 8, 9. 



ON THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY. 431 

are, who live in the constant liabit of mortal sin, and every instant 
run the risk of being hurled into the eternal abyss, and who could 
live in the grace of God and work out their salvation, if they 
would only follow the voice of the Lord inviting them to enter 
into the sacred bonds of Matrimony ! Marriage, therefore, has 
been instituted as a remedy against concupiscence. 

"It is not good," says God, "for man to be alone: let us make 
him a help like unto himself."* Man and woman are united by 
the sacred bonds of Matrimony, and the Almighty wishes that this 
should be, for' the purpose of mutually aiding one another, of sup- 
porting one another by their advice, their counsel and their mutual 
service ; so that they may become every day more perfect and more 
holy. Hence, on the day of your marriage, we say to you : 
" Christians who unite in the sacred bonds of Matrimony, enter 
into a mutual promise of laboring in concert for each other's sanctifi- 
cation, of supporting patiently the pains of this life, that they may 
happily attain life everlasting ; for marriage is a holy state, in 
which you promise to help one another, and lead holy lives in 
the Lord." This mutual assistance, — this bearing one another's 
burdens, is one of the most precious advantages of this union, and 
what ougbt to constitute its chief delight, if there be any delight 
in this world. 

But how few are the Christians, who, at the time of their mar- 
riage, keep in view the sanctity of the state in which they are about 
to engage, and remember the ends for which the Lord instituted 
marriage ! How few who marry for the purpose of giving children 
to the world, servants to God, and saints to heaven ! How few who 
marry with the design of mutual edification, of mutually helping 
one another in the practice of virtue, of supporting and encouraging 
one another amid the troubles of life, amid the miseries and vex- 
ations of the world and the infirmities of old age ! 

What is it that induces most people to marry ? Alas ! but too 
often, it is passion that brings them to the altar ; too often they have 
the most criminal objects in view in contracting an alliance which 
ought to be so holy and so pure ! Levity, vanity, illusion occasioned 
by vain and ephemeral beauty, the desire of riches, ambition and 

* Genesis, ii : 18. 



432 SHORT SERMONS. 

cupidity, these are the motives which induce numberless Christians 
to enter into the sacred engagements of Matrimony. Others marry, 
and why ? Because they are tired of leading a life of service ; because 
they wish to become their own masters, they are impatient of paternal 
restraint ; unbridled passion and sensual desires predominate over 
them. Is it to be wondered at then, if God refuses to bless such 
marriages ? Is it to be wondered at, that such husbands and wives 
know only how to torment each other, and mutually contribute to 
each other's misery for time and eternity ? To obtain the blessing of 
God and enjoy happiness in the holy state of Matrimony, you must 
enter into it with a good intention artd for ends worthy of a Chris- 
tian and of God. The conjugal union is a holy state, since Thou 
art its author, O my God ! Thou knowest the dangers which beset 
Thy children, and the weakness of human nature ; hence Thou hast 
annexed to the worthy reception of this sacrament peculiar graces, 
which enable the husband and the wife to surmount the various 
obstacles they may meet with in the way of happiness. Grant, O 
Lord, that those who are called to this state may render themselves 
worthy of the grace which Thou hast destined for them, and that 
they may prepare for it by a holy life. Give them grace to enter 
into all Thy views in their regard ; give them an upright intention ; 
purify them, sanctify them, so that they may deserve, when their 
earthly career will be over, to be admitted to the nuptials of the 
Lamb, and to enjoy for all eternity His ineffable presence in Thy 
own most holy mansion. — Amen. 



PAET VI. 

SERMOS LXXXIX. 
ON SIN IN GENERAL. 



"Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent." — Ecclesiasticus, xxi: 2. 

The Son of God descended from heaven, led for thirty-three years 
a most austere and penitential life, shed His adorable blood, and 
died on a cross to destroy Sin, To prevent us from becoming 
guilty again, He promised us His aid and assistance ; He opened 
among us seven abundant sources of blessings, and assured us "that 
whatever we shall ask of His heavenly Father in His name shall 
be given us." Notwithstanding all this, the frightful monster Sin 
continues always waging war against the Lord, renewing the death 
of Jesus Christ, and destroying men by separating them from God. 
On every side iniquity seems to have inundated the earth. Never 
did men wander further from the maxims of a Christian life, which 
consists in avoiding evil and doing good. Following then the 
example of Jesus Christ and the Apostles, we are going to speak 
to you of this dreadful evil, which we call Sin, less indeed with a 
view of explaining its nature than with that of inspiring you with 
a horror for it. 

What is Sin ? St. Augustine says that Sin is any thought, word, 
deed or action contrary to the law of God ; or, as St. Ambrose 
defines it : sin is a transgression of the divine commandments, a 
willful violation of the laws of the Lord. 

An impious king, when oppressed with grief and sinking under 
the chastisements of divine justice, once said, "it is just and proper 
for man to be subject to the Lord." The creature should daily offer 
37 ^ ( 4.S3 ) " 



434: SHORT SERMONS. 

Him the homage of his obedience, and labor continually to accom- 
plish His adorable will. Surely then, when this great God com- 
mands, all things are ready and eager to pay Him homage, — to 
obey His voice. Yet I am mistaken, it is not so. There is a being 
who wishes to rise from his state of dependance, a servant who 
longs to rebel against the authority of his master, a child who no 
longer acknowledges his father. A voice is heard exclaiming: I 
will not obey, — "I will not serve."* And who is this presumptuous 
being who dares to rise against a God so great, — to raise the stand - 
ard of revolt against the omnipotent, eternal God ? Is it man ! 
Man, a vile compound of slimy clay, — mm, a poor, weak, miser- 
able being, whose span of life is but a day, and who is not master 
of even that ! Such is the being who has the effrontery to vie with 
the Lord : behold, says St. Ambrose, nothingness taking up arms 
against the Supreme Being, to make himself equal to Him ! See 
with what insolent pride he^pronounces his blasphemies against the 
Lord. ** Sovereign Master of the universe, thou hast imposed Thy 
law on all nature, and all nature obeys Thee ; but I will not obey. 
Thou commandest me to honor Thy thrice holy name, to consecrate 
to Thy service certain days, to love my neighbor, to struggle against 
my passions ; but I will not obey Thee. I will continue to outrage 
Thy name, I will desecrate the Sundays, I will hate my neighbor, 
I will detract and calumniate him, I will be the slave of my 
passions. It is true. Thou hast promised me everlasting felicity 
if I submit to Thy law ; and Thou threatenest me with equal tor- 
ments if I cast off the yoke of Thy authority ; but I disregard Thy 
commandments, Thy promises and Thy threats. I will think what 
I wish, love what I wish, do what I wish, and live as I please." 
The sinner therefore is a rebel against God. 

And yet this man who thus offends his God is enriched with the 
benefits of his divine Master, and all covered with the august blood 
which has redeemed him. For him God created the world, — for 
him He sacrificed His own Son. What is still more dreadful, is, 
that this man makes use of the very benefits of God to insult Him. 
Mind, heart, imagination, soul, eyes, ears, tongue, feet, hands and 
body, he has received them all from God, and yet he makes use 

* Jeremias, ii : 20. 



ON SIN IN GENERAL. 435 

of them to outrage God. The sinner therefore is an ungrateful 
wretch. 

Sinner, you forsake the Lord, who is the fountain of living 
waters, and dig for yourself cisterns, hroken cisterns, that can hold 
no water.* You abandon God, who is the principle of all good, 
to run after creatures, who are but vapors, shadows and empty 
phantoms. Where then is your faith, your reason and your good 
sense ? You are then foolish as well as wicked. 

You sin, that is to say, you sadden the heart of the best of 
fathers, — you force God to withdraw Himself from you, — you yield 
up your soul to the devil. Yes, you become the slave of the devil, 
for St. Peter says that such is the right of war, that he who is 
vanquished becomes the slave of the conqueror ; now, it is the devil 
who conquers you ; you are therefore the slave of the devil. 

You sin, that is, you draw upon yoursevles the hatred of God. 
But, you tell me, this is not so ; for God loves all His works, and 
He hates none of the things which he Has made.f But God did not 
make Sin ; Sin is the work of a will contrary to the will of God. 
God detests Sin ; the love which He has for himself is the extent of 
the hatred which He bears to Sin ; He pursues it therefore with an 
infinite, eternal hatred. Now, if God detests Sin with an eternal, 
necessary and infinite hatred. He detests the sinner in the same 
manner ; that is to say. He can not avoid hating him as a sinner. 
In reality, the Holy Ghost informs us that "to God the wicked and 
his wickedness are hateful alike."]; What a misfortune to be hated 
by God ! Can there be any lot more sad, more miserable ? 

To be hated by God, while every day we stand in need of His 
graces and blessings ! To be hated by God, while His love alone 
can open for us the gates of heaven ! To be hated by God, our 
sovereign. Judge, who can destroy our soul and body for all eternity, 
and bury us forever in the abyss of everlasting woes ! Oh ! no 
doubt, you hate and detest Sin, — you will fly from it, — you will 
never permit it to dwell in your hearts. "I have chosen the way 
of truth ; we shall be wise, because the precepts of the law of the 
Lord shall always be before my eyes. Thy word, O Lord, is a lamp 
to my feet, and a light to my paths. Give me understanding, and 

* Jeremias, ii : 13. t Wisdom, xi : 25 t Wisdom, xiv : 9. 



436 SHORT SERMONS. 

I shall keep Thy law. Uphold me according to thy word, and I 
shall live. Help me, and I shall be saved."* 

I have said that Sin is a violation of the law of God, hut a willful 
violation. A person is not guilty of Sin when he is ignorant of the 
law and has no will to violate it, when there is neither advertence 
nor consent. For example, he is not guilty of Sin, who without 
malice, without advertence and without will, has had the misfortune 
to kill his neighbor. He is not guilty of Sin, who through invol- 
untary forgetfulness or through ignorance, violates the law of the 
Church, by eating flesh meat on a day of abstinence, for there is in 
the heart of this man neither the will to offend God, nor the inten- 
tion to violate His law, nor contempt of the commandments. 
Thus sick people and prisoners do not Sin when they fail to hear 
mass on Sundays and holidays of obligation ; for they are lawfully 
prevented from complying with this duty. You suffer violent 
temptations in your mind, in your imagination or in your flesh; 
you are a prey to bad thoughts and evil desires ; are you guilty of 
Sin ? No, if they come in spite of yourselves, against your will, 
without any fault on your part. But you are guilty in your temp- 
tations, if you voluntarily and presumptuously expose yourselves 
to the occasions of Sin ; as for example, if you were to visit a 
person with whom you would be tempted to commit Sin, or to keep 
bad company, if you were to read bad books or to live in idleness. 
When you thus expose yourselves to the danger, it is useless for 
you to say, I was unable to resist, — I was not free. You should 
not have exposed yourselves, or placed yourselves in a position 
wherein you could no longer be masters of yourselves. Thus, my 
Brethren, a man becomes guilty before God when he does things 
contrary to His law, and gives his consent directly or indirectly in 
the cause; that is to say, when he exposes himself to an occasion 
bad in itself, and when he perceives, at least in a confused way, the 
evils that may proximately result from such exposure. A man 
gets drunk ; knowing by sad experience that he will commit in his 
drunkenness great crimes, he is responsible before God for all the 
Sins that he shall commit in that state, although at the time when 
he commits them he may be deprived of his reason ; he is guilty 

* Psalms, cxviii. 



UN SIN IN GENERAL. 437 

of the immodest words which he utters, of the oaths and blasphe- 
mies which he pronounces, of the insults and outrages which he 
perpetrates against his neighbor, of the injuries which he inflicts, 
and the scandal that he gives: all these things are voluntary in 
their cause, and are therefore sinful in the sight of the Lord. 

Sin is a transgression of the law of God ; — why do we not speak 
of human laws ? Because every time that a man violates a just 
law, whether it be divine or human, he violates the law of God. 
The Apostle tells us "that all power comes from God;" and the 
Lord himself says, "it is by me that kings reign and establish just 
laws." Whoever resists lawful authority, resists God himself, — 
resists the order which He has established. God has given to 
certain men the right to govern us; and to violate their laws, is to 
violate the law of God, and therefore, he who does so commits Sin. 

The Empress Eudoxia, wishing to get rid of St. John Chrysos- 
tom, whose zeal and reproaches she dreaded, sent messengers from 
her court to sound him, and ascertain what he most feared. At 
first they threatened to deprive him of his temporal goods. You 
could not confer a greater favor on me, replied the holy bishop, 
than to relieve me of so heavy a burden.— You will be sent into 
exile. — Then it will be necessary for you to send me into some 
place where God is not ; was the reply. — You will be condemned 
to prison and to death. — Very well ! I am ready to suffer all these 
things. Tell the Empress that of all the things on earth I fear 
nothing but Sin. May heaven grant, my Brethren, that it may be 
so with you ! However disagreeable the troubles of earth may be, 
fear them not ; they are as nothing when compared to Sin. 
Fathers and mothers, teach this great truth to your children ; tell 
them frequently how much God hates Sin, and how displeasing 
sinners are in His holy sight. As for ourselves, my Brethren, let 
us fly from Sin as from a most dangerous serpent. We have but 
too often, alas ! provoked the wrath of God by our transgressions, 
let us endeavor, while we have time, to appease His anger by our 
repentance, that we may become children of mercy, and experience 
its salutary effects throughout a happy eternity. — Amen. 



438 SHORT SERMONS. 



SERMON XC. 

ON SIN. — (Continued.) 



"My son, take heed thou never consent to sin, nor transgress the command- 
ments of the Lord our God." — Tobias, iv : 6, 

In our last instruction, my Brethren, I endeavored to make you 
understand what Sin is in general. I told you that Sin is a thought, 
word, or action contrary to the law of God ; and, I trust, convinced 
you that it is an odious rebellion against the Lord, a black ingrati- 
tude, and a great folly. Yery wise then was the advice which the 
holy man, Tobias, gave to his son, when he said to him : "My son, 
take heed thou never consent to sin, nor transgress the command- 
ments of the Lord our God.'* To-day, I mean to speak to you of 
the different kinds of Sin. 

How many kinds of Sin are there ? There are two, original and 
actual. This word original implies that it comes from our origin. 
Original Sin is that which our first father, Adam, our origin, com- 
mitted in the earthly paradise, and in which all of us have partici- 
pated, because our wills were included, as it were, in that of Adam. 
If Adam had continued faithful to the commandment which God 
had imposed upon him, if he had not sinned, like him, all of us 
would have had the happiness of being born in sanctity and justice, 
and we would have partaken of all the advantages and ]3rivileges 
which the Lord had gratuitously and so generously granted to him. 
The King of kings said to him : ''you shall be happy and immortal, 
you and your posterity, but on condition that you prove your sub- 
mission by remaining faithful to the easy commandment which I 
impose upon you." But Adam fulfilled not the condition, he dis- 
obeyed God, he fell away from grace, — he lost it, and we shared in 
his misfortune. We were conceived in iniquity, — our mothers 
brought us forth in Sin, and, had not the holy waters of Baptism 



ON SIN. 439 

washed and purified our souls, we could never be admitted to see 
and love God in heaven. Let us not murmur ; has an earthen 
vessel the right to ask of the potter why it has not been formed 
more magnificently and beautifully ? Let us rather repeat these 
words of the Apostle : '* the depth of the riches, of the wisdom 
and of the knowledge of God ! How incomprehensible are His 
judgments, and how unsearchable His ways !"* Who can fathom 
the views of God and enter into His impenetrable counsels ? Adam 
sinned many thousand years ago, and we were born guilty in 
consequence of Adam's Sin ; this is a mystery which we can not 
fathom. But, enveloped in obscurity as this dogma is, still it is 
not opposed to reason ; our finite reason, indeed, can not grasp it, 
for it is above human comprehension, but, nevertheless, we must 
believe it since God has revealed it. For, has He not, essential 
truth and justice as He is, told us by the mouth of St. Paul, that 
we were born children of wrath, that '*by one man Sin entered into 
this world, and by Sin death : and so death passed upon all men, 
in whom all have sinned, "f We have sinned in Adam and we 
must undergo the chastisement due to our Sin ; the privation of 
grace, the pains and miseries of life, death, ignorance and concu- 
piscence which abides in us, even after we have been restored to the 
divine favor; these are what remains to us from the fall of our 
first father, — they are the sad consequences of our Sin. This con- 
demnation exists, — it is just ; we must believe these two truths, 
though we can not comprehend them. 

Happy for us, my Brethren, that the Lord has not punished us 
as He punished the rebel angels, whom He condemned to eternal 
torments ! The God of goodness loved us so much, that He was 
pleased superabundently to repair the evil which our first parents had 
brought upon us ; and now, where Sin had abounded, grace super- 
abounds in generous profusion. W^e were dead in Adam, and we 
have risen to life with Christ, and by Jesus Christ in God, we have 
been delivered from our slavery ; we have become just, holy, 
children of God, heirs of God, co-heirs of Jesus Christ, members 
of Jesus Christ and temples of the Holy Ghost. And all these 
precious gifts, — all these divine blessings became our happy portion. 



* Romans, xi : 33. f Romans, v: 12. 



4:4:^ J S II O K T S E R M u X S . 

when the holy waters of Baptism were poured upon oui* heads ; 
this is the heavenly dew that blots out our Sin, which restores us 
to the grace and friendship of God, and reopens for us the gates of 
heaven. Christian parents, take heed and never permit your 
children to remain long in original Sin ; they may die in that state, 
it needs not much to extinguish the weak breath of life which 
animates them. Hasten then to have them baptized, that the eye 
of God may discover nothing sinful in their souls, and that nothing 
may hinder them from entering heaven, if the Lord judge proper 
to shorten their days and call them to himself. 

Original Sin, this sad inheritance which our first parents left us, 
is the source of all the other Sins which we commit, and which we 
call actual. This word actual is derived from the word action. 
Actual Sin is so called, because we commit it by our own action 
and by the free choice of our own will ; it can not be committed 
until we have attained the age of reason and know what we do. 
Alas ! but too^soon do we acquire this unhappy power, and it is 
but too true, that the human mind, and all the thoughts of our 
hearts are inclined to evil from our very youth. 

The Holy Ghost tells us, that we are all guilty of many Sins. In 
truth, innumerable are the Sins committed in the world, by thought, 
word, deed and omission. We Sin by thought, when we think 
evil, or of doing evil, voluntarily and with pleasure. God, who is 
the sovereign Master of our souls as well as of our bodies, pro- 
hibits, not only bad actions, but also bad thoughts and desires. 
His law not only stays the hand and the tongue, it also governs the 
mind and the heart. In the heart disobedience begins, — the heart is 
the source of Sin ; words and actions are but its outward manifes- 
tations. So, it is certain that the soul that gives itself up to bad 
thoughts and evil desires, becomes as guilty before God as if it 
committed the actions which its thoughts represent to it : before 
the supreme Judge the will is reputed as the deed. It was to teach 
us the danger we run by opening our minds to bad thoughts, that 
our divine Saviour said to us: "Whosoever looketh on a woman 
to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his 
heart."* 

* St. Matthew, v: 28. 



ON SIN. 441 

Sin is committed by i^orc^,when any thing is said contrary to the 
honor of God, to truth or to fraternal charity. You therefore Sin 
by wordsjwhen you take unnecessary or false oaths, when you swear 
and blaspheme, when you tell lies, when you detract or calumniate, 
when you sing immodest songs or hold wicked conversations. 
These are the Sins of the tongue ; Sins so numerous and so fatal to 
our souls, to the peace and happiness of mankind, that the Apostle 
St. James tells us that the tongue is a world of iniquity, and that 
it defileth the whole body. 

A man Sins by action, when he commits deeds forbidden by the 
law of God, such as stealing, striking his neighbor, engaging in 
unjust lawsuits, committing shameful or dishonorable acts, or 
giving himself up to drunkenness. 

Finally, a person Sins by omission, when he does not perform 
what his duty requires of him and what the law commands. If he 
sins who presumes to do what God prohibits, in like manner does 
he sin and offend the Lord who will not fulfill what God commands. 

Nevertheless, how little regard men pay to Sins of omission ! Are 
there many heads of families, who consider themselves guilty for 
not keeping to their duty those under their charge ? For not 
watching over, reprimanding and correcting them ? Are there 
many fathers and mothers, who accuse themselves in confession, 
of having neglected their children and taken little care to give them 
a Christian education ? Are there many children, workmen and 
servants, who accuse themselves of having neglected their work and 
given too much of their time to idleness and foolish talk ? In fine, 
are there many Christians, who accuse themselves of not having 
loved God sufficiently, of not having returned Him thanks for His 
benefits, of not having sincerely and in deed manifested love to 
their neighbors, of not having helped and relieved as many of their 
poorer fellow-creatures as they were able ? Alas ! my Brethren, 
it is but too true, that we commit a great number of Sins of 
omission ; but we do not think of them, we do not believe ourselves 
guilty, and consequently we do not accuse ourselves of them in con- 
fession. Nevertheless, our blessed Lord, the Eternal Truth, assures 
us, that he who has known the will of his master and has not 
fulfilled it, shall be surely punished. 

You see then, my Brethren, in how many ways we may unhappily 



442 SHORT SERMONS. 

exercise the sad power which we possess of being able to offend 
God. All the powers of our body and of onr soul are instruments 
of Sin and eternal ruin, if we do not keep a careful guard over 
them. Alas ! if we sin, — if we are lost, it is truly our own fault, 
and because we are so malicious as to turn against our sovereign 
Benefactor the gifts which He has deigned to bestow upon us, 

O my God ! let me rather die than offend Thee again ! True, I 
am weak ! Many times have I experienced the inconstancy of my 
heart ! But, Lord, I can do all things, if Thy grace supports me ; 
grant me this grace, that I may watch over all my thoughts, words 
and actions, that they may never be opposed to Thy holy law. 
Strengthen, Lord, the resolution which I take in Thy presence, 
for Thou alone canst enable me to execute it. Preserve the work 
of Thy hands ; and never permit that the violence of my passions 
and the seduction of bad example should cause me to violate Thy 
holy law, or weaken the sincere purpose I this day form, of obeying, 
loving and serving Thee to the last moment of my life. — Ai^ien. 



SERMON XCI. 

ON MORTAL SIN 



*' Know thou, and see, that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee, to have left 
the Lord thy God." — Jeremias, ii : 19. 

We know that there are innumerable sins committed in the 
world by thought, word, action and omission. These sins are of 
two kinds, mortal and venial. To-day, I shall speak of Mortal 
Sin, and you will be still more convinced of the wisdom of that 
advice which holy Tobias gave his son when he said to him : ''My 
son, take heed that thou never consent to sin, nor transgress the 
commandments of the Lord our God;" you will also admit the 
truth of these words of the prophet Jeremias : ** Know thou, and 



ON MORTAL SIN. 443 

see, that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee, to have left the 
Lord thy God." 

What is Mortal Sin ? It is the sin committed by him who 
violates the law of God in a grievous matter, and with perfect con- 
sent, in other words, with reflection, deliberation and a full and 
entire will. This sin is called mortal, because it inflicts death on 
the soul. The true murderer of man is Mortal Sin, whose wages, 
says St. Paul, is death, not only the death of the body, introduced 
into this world by the sin of our first parents, but a death much 
more fearful, — the death of the soul, — for the Holy Ghost declares, 
**that the soul that sinneth shall die."* But is not our soul im- 
mortal ? Yes, my Brethren, faith and reason teach us that in its 
substance the soul is spiritual and immortal; but, if we consider 
it in its relations with God, the principle of all grace and glory, 
we must acknowledge that it can die. The possession of God con- 
stitutes its life; the privation of God its death. St. Augustine 
says, that " God is to the . soul what the soul is to the body. 
When the soul is separated from the body, the hody is but a mass 
of clay, which soon goes into dissolution ; in like manner, when 
our soul loses its God, it is dead, — it is dead to grace, and its 
grave is in the pits of hell." 

This soul, dead to grace, is stripped of all the favor which had 
been bestowed upon it, robbed of all the spiritual riches which it 
had acquired, and all its past merits are lost. Though a person 
had practised for eighty years all the austerities of the anchorites, 
had given all his goods to the poor, had accumulated as much merit 
as all the saints who ever lived or ever shall live in this world, yet, 
were he unfortunately to commit but one Mortal Sin and die with- 
out repentance, he would lose the fruits of all his merits, and receive 
not the lightest recompense for them for all eternity. "If the just 
man," says the Lord, "turn himself away from his justice, and do 
iniquity according to all the abominations which the wicked man 
useth to work, shall he live ? All his justices which he had done, 
shall not be remembered : in the prevarication, by which he hath 
prevaricated, and in his sin, which he hath committed, in them he 
shall die."* The farmer, whose crops have been destroyed by the 

* Joel, i. t Ezechiel, xviii : 24. 



444 SHORT S E R ^I O N S . 

hail-storm, the sailor whose vessel has been buried beneath the waves 
of the ocean, lament their misfortune ; their condition is a sad one, 
and no doubt deserves our compassion ; but the fate of the unfortu- 
nate soul that loses its merits, its heaven and its God, is infinitely 
more lamentable. It is true that, if the sinner have recourse to the 
Sacrament of Penance, and obtain the pardon of his crimes, his 
merits revive ; but as long as he remains in the deplorable condition 
of sin, they are lost, and in that state he can never recover them. 
Nothing that you can do in the deplorable state of sin can ever merit 
for you an eternal reward. If you are in Mortal Sin, deprived of the 
grace of God, you are enemies of your Lord ; your souls defiled, 
degraded and profaned, are objects of abomination in His sight ; 
because, being sanctity itself, He necessarily detests iniquity wher- 
ever it is found. In that lamentable state, you are, as the prophet 
Isaias says, **full of the indignation of the Lord."* Practice every 
virtue, pray as much as you please, fast and give abundant alms ; 
your works are excellent in themselves, but they have no value 
before God, — they are not meritorious works. Why so ? Because 
sanctifying grace no longer abides in your hearts, and by it alone 
good works become precious in God's sight, and worthy of being 
counted among the number of those works which give a right to 
the recompenses of the Lord. 

Sinners, are then all your good works, no matter how praise- 
worthy, iiseless ? Yes, if you continue to love sin ; no, if you 
detest it, for then these good works aid you to appease the anger of 
God, and by a sincere repentence, you can obtain the happiness of 
being restored to the divine favor and friendship. You will hear 
His voice addressing you in the secret recesses of your hearts, how 
dreadful is the evil of sin, how bitter a thing it is to have forsaken 
the Lord your God, and how terrible to fall into the hands of the 
living God. Even in this life the lot of the sinner is bitter ; for, 
he who but awhile ago was the friend of God, the child of heaven, 
an heir to the eternal kingdom, sees himself, when he sins, become 
a poor exile, wounded to death, stripped of all his wealth, hated 
by God and a slave to the devil. But still more sad and terrible is 
the sinner's lot in the life to come. Let us say it with the Gospel, 

* Isaias, li: 20. 



ON MORTAL SIN. 445 

let us say it indeed with awe and trembling, but still let us say it, 
for it is necessary, useful, and an act of Christian charity to give 
warning of coming evils that they may be avoided, — let us then 
with the Gospel proclaim the awful truth, that hell with its eternal 
torments is the grave of souls whom Mortal Sin has killed. 
"Whether they be rich or poor, learned or ignorant ; whether their 
bodies repose in marble or lie buried beneath the green sward 
of earth, it matters not, — hell is the grave, the frightful sepulchre, 
the everlasting abode of every soul that passes out of life sullied by 
the stains of Mortal Sin : hell, — out of which there is no redemp- 
tion, — which never restores what it has once received. Sin places 
you over this frightful precipice, — suspends you there by a single 
thread, — the frail thread of life ; God, whom you have offended 
and whom you still continue to offend holds that thread in His 
hand ; at any moment He may cut it, and bury you in this awful 
prison, — and once there, O sinners, its gates are closed against your 
release for ever ! 

But what emboldens you is, perhaps, that you have not com- 
mitted a great many Mortal Sins ; that you can not be placed among 
the number of those great sinners, whom the Apostle declares 
excluded from heaven, when he says : " no fornicators, nor unclean, 
nor covetous person, nor thieves, nor slanderers, nor calumniators, 
nor drunkards, nor gluttons, whose God is their belly and whose 
glory is their shame, shall ever possess the kingdom of Christ.'* 
Do not deceive yourselves, my Brethren ; not alone those who heap 
sin upon sin, shall become the prey of hell ; every soul that departs 
out of this world in the state of Mortal Sin, though it had com- 
mitted but one, and that one the least Mortal Sin, shall see his 
name blotted out from the book of life; heaven shall be closed 
against it, and it shall hear the terrible words of divine Justice : 
"Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire." Every 
Mortal Sin deprives us of the grace and friendship of God, of 
heaven and its ineffable delights. Alas ! when grace is lost, all is 
lost. We become the enemies of God, the foes of the Almighty, 
who may in an instant immolate us to his just indignation, against 
which all men and all angels can not defend us ! How then can we 
deliberately commit sin ? And after having committed it, how can 
we rest one moment, without taking the proper means to rise from 



446 SHORT SERMONS. 

the grave of sin ? One single Mortal Sin in sufficient to cause our 
eteinal misery ! Think seriously of this. 

Do you desire that I should adduce examples in support of this 
awful truth? The angels sin in heaven; a single sin, the sin of 
pride defiles them ; God immediately drives them from His king- 
dom, and for them and for all who follow their example He creates 
and opens hell. Adam and Eve committed but one sin, and God 
expelled them from the terrestrial paradise ; they would have per- 
ished forever, had not a long and painful penance opened for them 
the bosom of divine mercy. For one sin Core, Datlian and Abiron 
were swallowed up alive. How dangerous then is sin ? How ter- 
rible the injury which it offers to God, since the divine Justice pun- 
nishes it so severely ! How true it is that we ought to shun it as 
the greatest of evils ! I am not astonished to hear a holy father 
exclaim, "Unfortunate sinner! You lose your immortal soul, and 
you drink and eat as if this loss concerned you not ! By walking 
as you do in the ways of iniquity, you bear death in your bosom, 
and yet you weep not, you do not even sigh!" 

You carry in your breast a soul dead in the sight of the Lord, and 
yet you cease not to abandon yourselves to the false joys of the 
world, though you are hanging over the precipice of hell. Is it 
faith you want ? — or reason ? — or do you merely act without reflec- 
tion? You laugh, you sport, you clap your hands, and yet you are 
all the while running on to your destruction, and sooner than you 
imagine you shall reach the brink of hell, where an eternal punish- 
ment awaits you, — the brink of hell, where there is no hope, because 
out of hell there is no redemption ! Oh ! sinners, when will you 
be wise, — when w^ill you open your hearts to the truth ? Why 
do you not listen to the tender invitations of your God and the 
remorse of your own conscience ? How good it would be for you 
to repent, to fly to the throne of mercy, where converted, you would 
be absolved, replaced on the road to heaven, and rendered capable 
of one day attaining the unutterable happiness which inundates the 
saints in the mansions of the eternal God ! 

You undersand now what Mortal Sin is, the evils which it brings 
along with it, the sad eflects which it produces. It robs us of all 
our merits, strips our good works of all their value, makes us 
enemies of God, incapable, while under its dominion, of doing any 



ON MORTAL SIN. 447 

thing pleasing to Him, and meritorious of eternal reward ; it 
deprives our sonls of life, by depriving them of sanctifying grace ; 
it shuts heaven against us, and opens for our reception hell with its 
eternal torments, the bare idea of which should fill us with terror. 
How richly shall we deserve these chastisements if we still continue 
to offend God, Avho, to punish sin, delivered up his own Son to 
undergo the painful death of the cross ! My Brethren, let us take 
care of our salvation, — of our eternity ; and let us be firmly resolved 
to lose all, to suffer all, to sacrifice all rather than commit a Mortal 
Sin, or remain at emnity with God; for what doth it profit a man 
if he gains the whole world, and lose his soul ? There is but one 
thing important, — one thing necessary, — and that is to save our 
souls. — Amen. 



SERMON XCII. 

ON VENIAL SIN. 



"My SOD; take heed that thou never consent to sin, nor transgress the command- 
ments of the Lord our God." — Tobias, iv : 6. 

Mortal sin kills the soul, deprives it of the grace of God, strips 
it of all its merits, shuts the gates of heaven against it, and plunges 
it into hell ; we must therefore detest it. There is another kind of 
sin which does not deprive us of the grace of God, but weakens it 
in us ; which does not merit the pains of hell, but those of purga- 
tory and other temporal chastisements, and which but too frequently 
disposes us to commit mortal sin. This sin, which is called Venial 
Sin, we must also dread, hate and firmly resolve to avoid. It dis- 
pleases God, — it is dangerous, — we must therefore shun it ; this is 
a truth of which you will be easily convinced if you will honor me 
with your attention. 

What is Venial Sin ? Venial Sin is an offence against God in a 
light matter, or in a grave and important matter, but without full 
consent. 

We sin venially in two ways. First, through ignorance, incon- 



448 SHORT SERMONS. 

sideration or by surprise, and througli a kind of human weakness, 
which is as it were a species of spiritual infirmity, to which our 
souls are subject in a state of corrupt nature. The greatest saints 
were not exempt from these kinds of Venial Sins. In the second 
place, we sin venially with advertence, with deliberate purpose, 
knowing well that the actions which we commit are sins. Faults 
become more grievous when we join the habit of committing them 
to the will and knowledge of sin. We would be still more guilty, 
if we fell into these Venial Sins without scruple and without 
remorse. W^ould not this be proving that we do not fear displeasing 
and offending the Lord ! Do we not thereby clearly and loudly 
proclaim that, if we refrain from committing mortal sin, it is more 
through fear of hell than love of God ? 

It is above all, when speaking of this last kind of Venial Sins, 
that I believe myself justified in asserting, that we should not con- 
sider them as light evils, but that, on the contrary, we should view 
them as very great misfortunes. Why so? Because these sins 
tarnish the beauty of our souls, and render them less pure and less 
agreeable in the sight of the Lord ; because, if they do not cause 
us to lose divine grace, they at least diminish our fervor; if they 
do not deprive us of the friendship of God, they gradually weaken 
it. Venial Sin is therefore a great evil. Why ? Because, like 
mortal sin, it is an act of disobedience, — an exhibition of ingrati- 
tude, — a rebellion against God. And who then, asks St. Basil, 
would dare call that fault light which God detests, — which He has 
often punished most severely, even in this life, and for which He 
reserves rigorous chastisements in the world to come ? 

King Ezechias received embassadors from the king of Babylon. 
To give them an idea of his grandeur and power, he show^ed them 
his treasures and riches. This was but a Venial Sin of vain 
glory, — an act of vanity and self-love, — a fault such as we commit 
every day and which we regard as scarcely sinful before God. 
Nevertheless, this vanity was very displeasing to the Lord ; and, 
would we believe it, if the Sacred Scriptures had not recorded the 
fact? The Lord said to Ezechias : "Behold, the days shall come, 
that all that is in thy house, aixd that thy fathers have laid up in 
store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon ; nothing shall be 
left, saith the Lord. And of thy pons also that shall issue from 



ON VENIAL SIN. 449 

thee, whom thou shalt beget, they shall take away : and they shall 
be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."* Thus it was 
that God punished a venial fault, — a slight sin. 

But what is this punishment in comparison to the pains which 
God inflicts upon Venial Sins in the fires of purgatory ? The souls 
whom supreme Justice detains there as captives are holy, are a 
cherished portion of His flock, heirs to the kingdom of heaven ; 
but they departed out of this world defiled with the stain of Venial 
Sin, and heaven, into which nothing defiled can enter, is shut 
against them. One day indeed they shall be received into Abra- 
ham's bosom, but they have first to satisfy the justice of God, to 
endure awful sufferings. Venial sin is, therefore, however trivial it 
may be, a great evil, because it offends God, because it attacks 
God, because it is the evil of God himself. It is therefore never 
lawful to commit it. No, though, to cure all the maladies that 
affect mankind, to raise all the dead to life, to convert all heretics 
and infidels, to deliver from purgatory all the souls detained there, 
to save all the damned, you were required to commit but the least 
Venial Sin, you should not commit it, — you should not sully your 
soul with its stain. To deny this is to renounce your faith. 
Venial Sin is therefore a great evil, and I may add, that it is an 
eminently dangerous one. Hear and meditate well on these words 
of the Holy Ghost : " He that contemneth small things shall fall 
by little and little. "f And whither shall be he borne in his fall? 
Alas ! even to the bottom of that abyss where contempt of the law 
of God and of God himself, reigns supreme. Listen to, and medi- 
tate well upon this warning of the Son of God : " He that is faithful 
in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater : And 
he that is unjust in that which is little, is unjust also in that which 
is greater." J; Venial Sin, therefore, not only inflicts slight wounds 
upon our souls, cools the friendship of God toward us, deprives us 
of certain graces, certain succors, which the Lord wished to grant 
lis, and which would have powerfully aided us to persevere in the 
practice of our duties ; but, by diminishing our fervor and enervat- 
ing our will, insensibly leads us into mortal sin and drags us 
toward an unhappy eternity. 

* 4 Kings, XX : 17, 18. t Ecclesiasticus, xix : 1. t St. Luke, xvi : 10. 

38 



4:50 SHORT SERMONS, 

Cast your eyes on those that have become notorious sinners ; 
consider even yourselves, if you are of the number of those who 
have grievously offended the Lord, and tell me sincerely, did you 
cothmence your wicked career by mortal sins? Was it not "by 
little and little " that you fell into it ? " Man never becomes a great 
sinner all at once," says St. Bernard," it is only by degrees that he 
reaches the bottom of the abyss of vice, as it is only by degrees 
that he ascends to the summit of virtue ; and our perdition, like 
our glory, has its principle in little things." Yes, sinners, you 
begin by committing Venial Sins without scruple, and you end by 
committing mortal sins without remorse. Our crafty foe uses great 
caution with respect to a soul yet guilty of small things ; he induces 
it, so to speak, to advance by short steps in the ways of perdition ; 
he fears that he would frighten it, were he first to present to it 
mortal sin in all its hideousness. But he delays not in obtaining 
more and more an ascendency over the will of him who is indifferent 
to Venial Sin ; by degrees he becomes his master, lords it over him, 
and then, great God ! whither shall he go, or rather to what lengths 
will he not go ? 

Would to God that there were not but too many examples of 
this sad truth ! Alas ! they are to be found everywhere and in 
every age ! See that Christian who delights in railing at his neigh- 
bor and backbiting him. He is not, I will suppose, guilty of very 
injurious raillery or of grievous detraction ; he commits as yet only 
Venial Sins. But he persists in the habit, and behold where it 
soon leads him. At first, he speaks only of public facts ; his 
censure falls only on some slight defects, which those who listen 
to him have also remarked in the person of whom he speaks, and 
against whom it is manifest he entertains an ill feeling. But his 
ill feelings soon prompt him to give expression to certain tart sar- 
casms and malicious remarks, which being well seasoned with wit, 
secure him applause. Nor does he stop here ; he wishes to support 
with the same pleasantry this conversation, which will soon prove 
fatal to him. He lets escape certain ambiguous words, — words 
which imply far more than they express. The curiosity of the 
company is excited, — they wish to know what it is that he seems 
desirous to conceal, — he is pressed to tell all, and at lasit, giving free 
rein to his tongue, he defiles his soul by the blackest detraction, by 



O N y E N I A L S I N . 451 

the most atrocious calumnies ; lie reveals what should never have 
been known and what was his bounden duty to have kept a profound 
secret. Do we not witness these things every day ? Let us give 
another example. How does it happen that so many young people 
are lost ? By associating with certain persons, Avho did not appear 
dangerous ; by complying with their requests, which did not seem- 
ingly tend to crime. Having obtained this little, the enemy of 
their salvation soon demanded more, and then venial faults led them 
into mortal sin, — and to dishonor. How came King David to be 
stained with two awful crimes ? By a mere look. How did Judas 
become an object of so much abhorrence ? A thought of avarice 
insinuates itself into his heart ; he nourished the viper, and it killed 
him ; he is become a miser, a traitor, and the murderer of his God. 
St. Augustine was right, when he said: "He who does not dread 
and shun light faults, will not remain long before he becomes guilty 
of grievous sins." 

Let us then, my Brethren, carefully shun all evil ways, let us 
never abandon ourselves to sin, however light it may appear, for it 
still is a great evil; it offends God, wounds His justice, outrages 
His sanctity, provokes His anger, and conducts to mortal sin. 
God detests it, — He abhors it. Do you desire to know how much 
the Lord hates Venial sin ? Suppose then, that by an impossibility 
He were to discover a single one in the angels that compose His 
court. He would immediately banish them from heaven, and oblige 
them, before they could reenter, to undergo a humiliating penance. 
What do I say ? — suppose that He were to perceive the smallest 
stain of the least venial fault in Mary, His own beloved, august 
Mother, this Queen of Angels and of men, would be compelled to 
lay down her crown, to descend from her throne, to cjuit heaven, 
and to do .penance, before she could be readmitted there. Such is 
the opposition that exists between the holiness of God and the 
hideousness of sin. Let us therefore avoid all sin, whether grievous 
or light, mortal or venial. Let us love and fear the Lord, and 
neglect nothing that may enable us to persevere in His service, and 
ever remain faithful to His divine commandments ; let us love God 
above all things, and then we shall never offend Him ; faithful in 
small things, we shall merit the happiness of being placed over 
great things, and of being received into the eternal and unutterable 
joys of our Lord. — Amen. 



452 SHOKT SEKMONS. 



SERMON XCIIL 

ON THE CAPITAL OR DEADLY SINS. 

ON PRIDE. 



" Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind, or in thy words : for, from it all per- 
dition took its beginning." — Tobias, iv: 14. 

The first passion which we discover in our hearts is self-love. Is 
this love bad ? If well regulated it is good and lawful ; it is sinful 
when it becomes immoderate and occasions other sins. This prime 
mover of the human heart is divided into seven branches or pas- 
sions, which we call capital or deadly sins ; not because they are 
always mortal, but because they are the heads, the cause, the begin- 
ning, the source of other sins. These passions or sins are. Pride, 
covetousness, lust, gluttony, envy, anger and sloth. I intend, my 
Brethren, to draw for you a picture of these vices, and of the un- 
happy effects which they produce, that you may conceive a horror 
for them, and may carefully avoid them. I shall first treat of 
Pride, which is, as it were, the king of sins, the principle of all 
offences. What is Pride? Pride is an inordinate love of one's- 
self, and of one's own excellence, which induces a man to glory in 
himself, and to set himself above others. This is the idea which 
St. Augustine gives us, and which we naturally form of it. What 
else is Pride, says this holy doctor, but the passion and desire of 
exalting ourselves more than we should? We are, in truth, 
allowed to love ourselves, to esteem the qualities, the virtues and 
perfections which God has bestowed upon us, to value highly the 
talents and advantages with which we are favored, and all the other 
gifts which we have received from His bountiful providence, pro- 
vided we at the same time acknowledge that all these blessings are 
not our own, that they come from God, and that the more we have 



ON PKIDE. 45S 

received the more should we be modest and humble, faithful and 
grateful to the divine Author of all these gifts. But this is not 
the way the proud man acts ; he diverts his attention from God to 
place it on himself, as if he were the source and principle of the 
benefits which he possesses, and of the merits by which he is dis- 
tinguished. Is Pride then a great sin? "Yes," answers St. 
Augustine: "it is the greatest sin of man, — it is the most grievous, 
the most enormous of all the crimes that ever invaded the world." 
In fact, the Holy Scriptures tells us that " the beginning of the Pride 
of man, is to fall off from God : because his heart is departed from 
Him that made him ; for Pride is the beginning of all sin : he that 
holdeth it, shall be filled with maledictions : and it shall ruin him 
in the end."* God requires us to use for His glory whatsoever He 
has given us, and the proud man abuses all to glorify himself; what 
injustice ! He has the hardihood to encroach upon the rights of 
God, attributes to himself a glory and an honor which are due to 
God alone, and dares to place himself upon an equality with his Crea- 
tor. Can there be any thing more horrible, — more injurious to the 
divine Majesty ? What rashness can exceed this ? And must we not 
then call it a great and enormous sin ? Pride is a sin of so heinous 
a nature that it transformed an innumerable multitude of angels 
into demons, — it is in some manner the especial sin of the devil, 
since the devil was the first who committed it by his revolt against 
the Most High. Therefore Satan is called the prince of the proud. 
I am not then astonished that the Holy Ghost says that Pride is 
odious before God and before men, and "he that holdeth it, shall 
be filled with maledictions : and it shall ruin him in the end." 
I am not surprised that this sin, which has in an instant changed 
the splendor of a prince of heaven into the blackness of a demon, 
should entail the most terrible chastisements on the man who 
nourishes it in his heart. God has declared that "he who exalts 
himself shall be humbled" and covered with confusion; because the 
Lord, who gives every thing to man, and receives nothing from 
him, can not endure Pride. 

Aman, the minister of King Assuerus, was proud ; he wished to 
make all bow before him. He observed that the Jew, Mardochai, 

* Ecclesiasticus, x: 14, 15, 



454 SHORT SERMONS. 

refused to pay him homage ; exasperated at the refusal, he swore in 
his heart that he woukl exterminate the nation to which this man 
belonged. He managed the affair so well that he obtained from the 
king a decree, by which all the Israelites, throughout the length and 
breadth of the kingdom, were to be put to death on the same day. 
He caused to be erected a gibbet fifty cubits high, upon which he 
designed to hang Mardochai. But God, who watches over his 
people, changed the heart of the king and confounded the Pride of 
Aman. The frightful designs of this proud man were discovered, 
his hypocrisy was unmasked, and he was himg on the same gallows 
which he had prepared for the pious servant of God.* " Shame, 
humiliation and contempt shall overwhelm the proud, and the Lord 
shall destroy the house of the proud. My son, never suffer Pride 
to rule you either in your thoughts or in your words, for Pride is 
the root of all evil."f 

To convince you of this truth, observe the conduct of the proud 
man. He is full of contempt for his neighbor ; he regards him 
not, — speaks not to him, — treats him only with contempt and 
censures him with bitterness. He lessens his character, — and 
calumniates him without pity ; he takes a malignant pleasure in 
lifting aside the veil which conceals from the eyes of the public the 
faults and defects of his brethren, and he acts thus, because he 
Imagines that he is much better than his neighbor and far superior 
to him. The proud man is ambitious ; in his heart is found an 
immoderate desire of being distinguished from others, of elevating 
himself above all, — of obtaining places, honors, and dignities. 
The proud man is full of vanity and ostentation ; he boasts without 
ceasing of the good cjualities which he believes he possesses, — even 
claims, and very frequently attributes to himself those which he 
has not ; if he happen to perform a good work, he wishes that it 
should be known to every body, not considering that the Lord says : 
"woe to them who do good deeds that they may be seen by men!" 
The proud man is desirous of shining, hence he goes to great 
expense ; but he contracts debts and never pays them, and even, to 
procure money, he hesitates not having recourse to cunning and 
fraud. He has a great opinion of himself; he believes that he has 

* Esther, vi vii. t Proverbs. 



ON PKIDE. 455 

more intelligence and judgment than others; he supports his 
opinion against every one, — never yields, — never acknowledges 
that he is deceived, that he may be in error, or that he ought to be 
corrected. He is disobedient ; he longs to be independent of every 
body, — he detests the yoke of authority, — he refuses to submit to 
the advice or the orders of his superior, — ^he is unwilling to humble 
himself even before God, and he violates without scruple and with- 
out remorse of conscience the most sacred laws of God and the 
Church. And withal he is a hypocrite ; for he seeks nothing so 
much as the esteem of men, — ^he tries by all means' to appear better 
than he really is, — ^he artfully conceals his defects, and affects virtues 
which he does not possess. In the language of Scripture, he is a 
white washed sepulchre, which appears to the eyes of men set off 
with ornaments, but which within contains only bones and rotten- 
ness. 

Behold, my Brethren, some of the sins which Pride begets. I 
am aware that the sins of the proud man are not always grievous ; 
but I do not hesitate to assert that, unless he struggle to root out of 
his heart this dangerous vice, it will taint all his good deeds — it 
will plunge him, without shame and without remorse, into the 
greatest transgressions ; for thus God punishes Pride. To humble 
and chastise the Pride of the haughty, the Lord permits them to fall 
into the most dreadful crimes ; and St. Paul says, that God delivers 
them up to the shameful desires of their hearts, and abandons them 
to a reprobate sense and dissolute passion.* 

My Brethren, let us not be like "to a man beholding his natural 
countenance in a glass : for he beheld himself, and went his way, 
and presently forgot what manner of man he was."f You see here 
the hideous portrait of Pride ; no doubt, it fills you with horror, 
and you are firmly determined never to allow this vice, so odious to 
God and so hateful to men, to gain admittance into your hearts; 
you are resolved to expel it, if it has already entered into your 
souls. Yes, do so, for you have no right to be proud. Why 
indeed should you be proud and self-conceited ? What have you to 
be proud of? Is it the advantages which you possess? These 
advantages are either corporal or spiritual ; if corporal, they are 

* Romans, i. + James i : 23, 24. 



456 SHORT SEKMONS. 

fleeting, — evanescent, and must one day end in corruption; if 
spiritual, it is not in this life, but in a better one that they must be 
judged. Do you tell me that you are rich, — that you have money ? 
If so, you have very many duties which you are boimd to fulfill : 
you must become the protectors of the unfortunate, — the servants 
of the poor, or you cease to be Christians ; and, if you do not act 
thus, take care how you say : " I am rich, and made wealthy, and I 
have need of nothing :" for before God *'thou art wretched, and miser- 
able, and poor, and blind, and naked."* But you have talents ; 
your talents come from nature, and God is the Author of nature : 
you must not be proud then of what you have not made. You 
belong to a distinguished family, — you occupy a high place in 
society : but all men are born and die in the same way ; when God 
shall judge them, it will matter little whether they have borne on 
earth the crown of a king or the wallet of a beggar. Let us there- 
fore cease to ask : "who is the greatest amongst us ?" Remember, 
that whatever you are and whatever you possess, you have received 
all from God, and that from him to whom much is given, much 
will be required. Let us pass by as unworthy of our notice, what- 
ever is fleeting, and never attach our hearts to any thing earthly ; 
let it be our sole endeavor to use wisely and piously, for the sal- 
vation of souls and the love of God, and in all humility, the riches 
and the goods, which the bounty of God has intrusted to our care. 
Let us recollect that the Lord resists the proud and gives His grace 
to the humble ; let us bear in mind that he who exalts himself, 
shall be humbled, and that he who humbles himself shall be exalted. 
Amen. 

* Apocalypse iii : 17. 



ON AVAKICE OR COVETOCSNESS. 4:57 

SERMON XCIV. 

ON AVARICE OR COVETOUSNESS. 



"Takfi,heed and beware of all covetousness." — St. Luke, xii : 15. 

It is not without reason that in the series of sins which are called 
capital or deadly, Covetousness is placed immediately after pride; 
for these two base and unchristian-like vices, both consist in selfish- 
ness. Pride is the selfishness of vanity ; the proud man wishes to 
obtain all honors. Covetousness is the selfishness of cupidity; the 
avaricious man longs to possess all riches. Both are equally ridicu- 
lous and inhuman. I have already told you what pride is and the 
sins which it occasions, and I doubt not that you entertain a true 
aversion for this vice ; I wish to-day to inspire you with the same 
sentiment of repugnance toward the vile sin of Avarice. 

What is Avarice ? According to St. Thomas and St. Bernard, 
Avarice is an excessive and immense love of the goods which we 
possess or which we wish to possess. We are avaricious when we 
love and desire to excess the goods of this world, such as gold, 
silver or lands ; when we amass them with too much avidity, when 
we preserve them with too much trouble of mind, when we are too 
much afflicted at losing them, or fear too much expending them. 
From this definition of Avarice, it is easy to conclude that the 
poor as well as the rich may be swayed by this vice ; and, in fact, 
they are guilty of Avarice, if they preserve in their hearts a too 
ardent desire of possessing the goods of this world, if they set their 
hearts upon them as rich people very often do, who make a god of 
their wealth, and worship it. This definition of Avarice also teaches 
us that it is only the inordinate love of gold, silver and earthly 
goods which merits the name of Covetousness, and that this odious 
name must not be given to the moderate desire of acquiring and 
preserving these things. The father of a family, who moderately 
desires and struggles to amass sufficient money, to acquire sufficient 
39 



458 SHOKTSEKMONS. 

means that he may provide for his family in a becoming manner, 
and honorably establish his children in the world, must not be called 
avaricious. There is nothing inordinate in his desires ; he is not 
therefore covetous. Neither must the man be taxed with Avarice, 
who is sparing in his dress, maintenance and pleasures, and by 
his economy lays by some of his earnings, not from an excessive 
love of money, but that he may be enabled to live in comfort 
when he is no longer able to work, and that he may not stand in 
need of the necessaries of life, should he happen to be visited by 
infirmities and sickness. 

You must be careful and not confound Avarice with a good and 
wise economy, which is reason applied to the management of the 
aifairs of this world; Avarice is a vice, — economy is a virtue. 
Does not common sense tell us that to waste our substance, is to 
commit an act of folly ; that it would be even criminal to spend in 
prodigal extravagance, for outward show, what is useful in supply- 
ing the wants of our family? It is not what is needful for our 
support, but our superfluities that should become the patrimony of 
the poor. An economical man, without being covetous, without 
having an excessive love for money, wisely manages his fortune, 
and neglects no opportunity of enlarging it; but he makes use only 
of means, just in themselves, and which religion and conscience 
approve ; — he does not detach his heart from God to fix it on riches. 
He knows that the Holy Spirit has said : "Take heed and beware 
of all Covetousness;" seek nothing that is not just; and if heaven 
bless his efforts, it will be his* desire to please God, by practicing 
good works, — he will be always ready to aid his brethren, — he will 
be the father of the poor and the afflicted. He will not refuse when 
called on to contribute what he can toward feeding the hungry, 
clothing the naked, instructing the ignorant, adorning the house of 
God, or cariying the glad tidings of salvation to nations yet groping 
in the darkness of error, — he is not then avaricious. God grants 
him wealth, and he blesses the Lord. Should He take it away from 
him, he will still bless His holy name. 

Do you wish to know the covetous person ? Is it that man in 
whom the desire of obtaining money is the sole motive of every thing 
he does, — of every thing he undertakes ; who rejoices immoderately 
in the possession of temporal goods, and who is excessively afflicted 



ON AVARICE OR C O VETO U S NE S S . 459 

at tlie loss of them. It is tlie man who gives nothing, or scarcely 
any thing of his superfluities to the poor; who so ardently loves 
what he possesses, and grasps it with such tenacity, that you must, 
in some measure, resort to violence to determine him to buy neces- 
saries for himself ; it is that man who is never satisfied with the 
wealth which he has acquired, with the gains which he has made, 
who always longs to make them greater, and whose craven appetite 
for money, in the language of Holy Writ, never can be satiated.* 
His desires have no bounds ; and to appease them,— to satisfy his 
infernal thirst for gold, God alone knows what trouble he gives 
himself, what pains he takes^ what means he employs, and how 
many crimes he commits. f "There is not a more wricked thing 
than to love money: for such a one setteth even his own soul to 
sale:"J; because of his injustices, and wrongs, and injuries, and 
divers deceits ; and nothing is more wicked than the covetous man. 
The desire of riches is so deeply rooted, and so insatiable in certain 
avaricious souls, that they have no regard to laws or the dictates 
of justice. They defiaud,— they overreach others, — they steal, — 
they are ever employed in hoarding up gold, without troubling 
themselves whether they do so lawfully or unlawfully. They are 
resolved to make a fortune, to increase their capital and extend 
their possessions ; and to attain their ends, they employ every 
means, without stopping to inquire whether they are guilty of 
injustice or not. If such a one is a judge or a magistrate, it matters 
little to him on which side right and justice are found, — he pro- 
nounces in favor of him who lodges the most money in his hands. 
Is he a merchant, he will be found using false weights and measures, 
although God has said : Wo to you that have in your house 
diverse weights, a greater and a less ! § He sells as good, mer- 
chandise which is bad, damaged, and full of defects, which he takes 
great care to conceal. If we believe himself, there is no man more 
just than he is in his dealings,— he even swears to what he asserts ; 
but in the eyes of God, who sounds his heart, this man is a cheat 
and a thief. Is the avaricious man a mechanic, a laborer or a 
domestic ? He is ready to do every thing, to commit all kinds of sin 
and crime ; there is no artifice, no means, no matter how mean or 

» Ecclesiasticus, V. f Deut, xxv. t Ecclesiasticus, x : 8,9,10. § Deut., xxv 



460 SHORT SERMONS. 

shameful, which he will not employ to obtain money, and increase 
his property. To procm-e gold, the covetous man will avail him- 
self of false witnesses, — he fears not to perjure himself, and has no 
dread of committing theft or robbery. What do I say? If to 
attain wealth, he will have to rob the poor, plunder the orphan, 
defraud his ward, or ruin the heart-broken widow, — he cares not,— 
he shuts his eyes, — stifles the pangs of conscience, and advances 
boldly to perpetrate the crime. The covetous man will never let 
loose his grasp on what he holds ; so great is his apprehension of 
being stripped of his ill-gotten goods, that he can never resolve to 
restore what he unjustly possesses ; he pays neither his creditors, 
his servants, nor the unfortunate tradesmen who happen to work 
for him. But God shall vindicate the cause of his oppressed poor. 
** Behold, the hire of the laborers, who have reaped your fields of 
which you have defrauded them, crieth out; and the cry of them 
hath entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth."* 

Oh you, who inordinately hunger after riches ! do you never 
reflect that it is not of superfluities, but of the very necessaries of 
life, that you deprive that family, whose earnings you withhold. 
See these children, — they are naked, — they tremble with cold and 
hunger ; their poor mother weeps, and the unhappy father has no 
bread to break to them, — no raiment wherewith to clothe them. 
Well then, rejoice every night, because forsooth you have been 
able to add a few more dollars to your already well filled coffers ; 
hoard up your gold, — ^hoard it up, and forget that *' the laborer is 
worthy of his hire." But the day will come when you shall hear 
these appalling words : I was hungry, and you gave me not to 
eat : I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink ; wicked servant, 
as long as you did it not to one of these least ones, neither did you 
do it to me : cruel and heartless man, for you there shall be no 
mercy during all eternity, f 

St. Anselm remarks that St. Paul was right when he said that 
riches are the devil's net, by which he catches the souls of men and 
drags them to perdition. In the acquisition of them they are a net, 
for rarely are they obtained without recourse being had to unjust 
means. In the possession of them they are a net, for the posses- 

* St. James, v : 4. t St. Matthew, xxv. 



ON AVARICE OR C O VETO USN ESS . 461 

sors too often make of them a god, and erect an altar to them in 
their hearts. But most of all are they a net in the hour of death ; 
for then they hinder the miser from making the restitution which 
God, his conscience and justice demand. In that hour does the 
devil use all his efforts to hind fast this soul and precipitate it into 
the ahyss, still clinging to its unjust possessions. Without resti- 
tution there is no pardon. Foolish man \ hehold, God required thy 
soul of thee, and, — it is lost ! For whom are the riches which you 
have amassed? Poor miser, thou hast wearied thyself in vain in 
the ways of iniquity ! Hear the voice of thy heirs who laugh at thy 
sordid parsimony, and remember their unwilling benefactor only 
with the contempt and the derisive joy which thy folly deserves. 

Yes, my Brethren, Covetousness is an egregious folly, — it is a 
crime; ''take heed therefore and beware of all Covetousness." 
And how shall you avoid this vice ? Have confidence in the pater- 
nal care of divine Providence. God watches over you, — He will 
provide for your wants. Do you not experience this truth eveiy 
day ? Is it not your God who says that you are dearer to Him than 
the birds of the air, that sow not, neither do they reap, and yet 
your heavenly Father feeds them ? Labor then, — for such is the 
will of God ; but be not solicitous about to-morrow ; let not your 
hearts be troubled with thoughts of the future, — it will come to you 
accompanied by the blessings of heaven. Cease esteeming and 
desiring riches so much. You have a Father who loves you and 
who will never forsake you in the hour of need. If God had placed 
you in abundance, would you be happier? Perhaps, you would 
have become misers, and the miser is a perpetual torment to him- 
self, for the more he acquires the more he wants ; he suffers in the 
very possession of what he loves, and in his abundance he is poor. 

Love your neighbor sincerely and charitably as you love your- 
selves, and you will avoid Avarice, which inclines us to do to others 
what we would not be willing that they should do to us ; you will 
not seek to enrich yourselves at the expense of your brethren ; you 
will be open, frank, just and equitable in your dealings with them ; 
you will not be insensible to the miseries of the poor ; the poor 
man will love to come to you, while he shuns the miser as carefully 
as the rich man avoids a thief; you will remember every day that 
God has given you riches, that you may make a good and holy use 



462 SHORT SERMONS. 

of them, and above all, tliat you may be enabled to give bread to 
those who need it. 

"Take heed and beware of Covetousness " by considering that, 
as you brought nothing into the world, so you shall take nothing 
out of it. Gold and silver can neither preserve you from death, nor 
add one day more to your life. The days which God grants to 
each one of us are very short, and, when we shall reach the fatal 
term, the greater our wealth shall be, the greater too shall be our 
pain in dyi ag and leaving all behind. Remember that too great an 
attachment to the good things of this world, causes us to lose all 
love for the goods of the life to come, — the only lasting, — the only 
true goods, — the only goods worthy of our labor and our love. If 
the Lord has favored you with the goods of fortune, be not attached 
to them, but raise your hearts above them, so that, as St. Francis 
of Sales tells us, in the midst of riches, we may be without riches. 
You can not serve two masters, — God and mammon. Prefer God, 
the source, the principle and the Author of all riches. In Him is 
found every thing beautiful, great, rich and precious, and He will 
give himself entirely to you in heaven, where He will be your 
reward exceeding great. ** What doth it profit a man, if he gain 
the whole world and lose his own soul V To redeem this soul, gold 
and silver were valueless; it required the blood of a God. Esteem 
your soul then, endeavor to fit it, to enrich it for heaven, and you 
will avoid Avarice, the inordinate love of the false goods of earth ; 
you will avoid Avarice, that odious and dangerous vice ; you will 
love and practice charity, the divine virtue which makes you loved 
by God and opens for you heaven. — Amen. 



ON LUST Oii IMPURITY. 463 



SERMON XCV. 

ON LUST OR IMPURITY. 



*'God hatli not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness." — 1 Thessalonians, iv: 7. 

Had we a perfect resemblance to our forefathers in the faith, — to 
the Christians of the primitive Church, whose lives were so holy, 
and whose hearts were so pure, I might say : it is not necessary 
for me to speak of the third capital sin to those that come here to 
listen to the word of God ; they detest this vice, and, following the 
advice of St. Paul, the degrading sin of Lust is "neither known 
nor named amongst us ; every one of us knows how to possess his 
vessel in honor and sanctification ; not in the passion of Lust, like 
the Gentiles, who know not God ;" and we delight to recall to 
mind that, " God hath not called us to uncleanness, but to holi- 
ness." But, alas ! my Brethren, such is not the case in our unhappy 
times : Lust, far from being unknown, is the cause of the ruin of 
an innumerable multitude of souls, and the greatest efforts must be 
made to prevent this frightful evil from spreading further. May I 
obtain this salutary result by once more telling you how dangerous 
and how criminal is the vice of Lust. 

What is Lust ? Lust or Impurity is a criminal affection for 
pleasures contrary to the virtue of Christian chastity ; it is an 
inordinate desire for the unclean delights of the flesh. It is this 
sin which sensual men wish to regard as a light fault, and which 
they represent to us as the necessary and inevitable effect of human 
frailty. It may indeed be that it is inevitable for those proud 
people who, in their criminal presumption, lean only on their own 
strength, and neglect the fountains of grace and virtue, prayer and 
the sacraments, which our divine Lord has established to render us 
strong and holy; but it is not the less culpable in them. No ! Lust 



464 3 H O K T S E K M O N S . 

is not a ligHt fault ; to punish it, the Lord destroyed the world by 
a deluge, when all flesh had corrupted its way ; to punish it, He 
commanded fire from heaven to consume the cities of Sodom and 
Gomorrha, the cry of their immodesties having ascended to His 
throne. The Lord knew well the weakness of these men, never- 
theless. He did not hesitate to break them with a sceptre of iron ; 
it was by their own fault they had become vessels of impurity, and 
consequently horrible in His sight ; and, therefore, it was that He 
rejected them. Man must possess his body in sanctity and honor. 
We, especially, my Brethren, should comprehend perfectly the im- 
portance of this obligation, and the enormity of the sin of Lust. 
We have the happiness of being Christians ; at the holy font of 
baptism, we became members of the body of Jesus Christ, formed 
of His flesh and bone; in the Holy Eucharist, we received this 
divine Son of the heavenly Father, and St. Cyril says, that our 
bodies belong more to Him than to ourselves. In Baptism and at 
Confirmation, the Divine Spirit descended into our hearts, and we 
became His living temples. I ask you now, my Brethren, is 
impurity a slight fault? Christians, when you give yourselves up 
to the base and infamous vice of Lust, what is it you do ? I dare 
not repeat to you the words by which the Apostle stigmatizes your 
crime, I content myself with saying that you dishonor the body of 
Jesus Christ, — that you make it the instrument of your shameful 
actions, — that you defile and profane the temple of God, and intro- 
duce abomination into the sanctuary. What an awful sacrilege ! 
Can we be astonished at hearing the Apostle declare that fornicators 
and the unclean shall never enter into the kingdom of God ? For, 
how could he who dares to drag in the mire the image of God and 
the body of Jesus, be admitted among the number and receive the 
rewards of the blessed inhabitants of heaven ? 

Lust is a grievous sin, a very grievous sin ; it is certain that all 
offences in this matter, however trivial they may appear, are always 
mortal when they are perfectly voluntary and committed with 
advertence. Do not deceive yourselves, by supposing that none 
but heinous crimes of Lust lead to perdition ; the reading of a bad 
book, an impure song, and immodest conversation, an action, even 
a thought, a simple desire of the flesh, is enough to ruin your soul 
and cause its eternal damnation. Has not our divine Saviour 



ON LUST OR IMPURITY. 466 

declared : ** Whosoever shall look on a woman to Lust after her, 
hath already committed adultery with her in his heart?"* 

"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God ; but woe 
to those who give themselves np to Lust, for this dangerous enemy 
will not be alone in the heart where it reigns; this impure spirit 
will be accompanied by many other spirits as wicked as itself. In 
fact, the number of sins to which Lust gives birth is almost infinite; 
it is the fruitful parent of a multitude of evils. 

God and nature command us to respect, honor and love our 
parents. Every day, our good behavior toward them, and the con- 
stant piactice of obedience should prove to them that we really 
know how to appreciate what they have done and still continue to 
do for our bodies and our souls, to promote our present as well as 
our future welfare, and render us happy for time and eternity. This 
is a sacred duty which we owe them. But the unfortunate slave of 
Lust shamelessly and continually violates this duty. He was once 
mild and docile : why is he now neither submissive nor docile, nor 
kind, nor affectionate toward his parents ? Why is he so arrogant, 
so haughty, so insolent, so hard-hearted to his father and mother ? 
Because they j^erceive his misconduct and the vile acts to which he 
is addicted, and they wish to correct him. These good parents 
endeavor to bring him back to the ways of virtue, and he gets 
angry, becomes indignant at their reprimands and reproaches, and 
rebels against their authority. His shameful passion has got the 
command over him, and the voice of nature and the voice of God 
no longer have power over his soul ; he knows not how any longer 
to love his father and his mother. Beside, he becomes slothful and 
detests labor. He is addicted to lies, is deceitful, full of cunning 
and of artifices to elude their vigilance and escape their notice. He 
must havie money to spend in his debaucheries, and will steal it 
whenever he has an opportunity of doing so. If he be accused, 
you will hear him utter false oaths and call God to witness his 
innocence ; he does not even fear to cast suspicion on his brothers 
and sisters, or on the poor servants who have never known injustice. 

The husband and wife must love one another, mutually help one 
another, labor together to increase their store, and assist each other 



* St. Matthew, v : 28. 



466 SHOUT-SERMONS. 

in educating their children. Now, can the husband and wife who 
give themselves up to a criminal passion, — to Lust, can they dis- 
charge these sacred duties ? From the moment that one of them 
forsakes the path of virtue, trouble and division enter into the 
house, and this couple, recently so intimately united, pass their days 
in hatred, disputes and quarrels ; they insult, outrage and deceive 
one another. They have no care for their children ; it matters little 
to them Avhether they turn to good or evil. They neglect their 
business, squander their property, spend their means and scatter 
money with a profuse hand on the wicked accomplices of their 
guilt, and often, after having scandalized their neighbor by their 
disorders, end their career in the most frightful misery. Alas ! my 
Brethren, have we not seen the husband and wife employing poison 
and the dagger to sever the sacred tie which impeded the accom- 
plishment of their wicked designs ? There is no crime, no trans- 
gression which this violent passion does not beget : it causes duels, 
suicides, murders, assassinations and parricides ! Children have 
been known to steep their hands in their father's or mother's blood 
to secure the indulgence of this shameful vice. 

But you say: we never go so far; we may commit sins against 
purity, for we are weak ; but these awful crimes which you describe, 
we never perpetrate. I believe you, my Brethren, and I hope that 
such horrid deeds will never take place among you : that we shall 
never see here duels, murders, infanticides or assassinations. But 
shall we not behold another misfortune, — an irreparable misfortune, 
one which fills me with terror and with grief, — final impenitence ? 
There is no sin that more effectually darkens the mind and hardens 
the heart than the vile sin of Impurity. As soon as the fire of 
passion gets possession of a man, he can no longer see the Son of 
justice, who is Jesus Christ ; he can no longer direct his conduct 
according to the holy maxims of the Gospel. The animal man 
has no taste for the things of God ;* he desires only the earth and 
the pleasure which he finds in the mire of his uncleanness ; his 
soul and his eternity concern him little. If he approach the sacra- 
ments, it is through hypocrisy, to veil the baseness of his conduct, 
or through human respect, and to escape the reproaches of his 

* 1 Corinthians. 



ON ENVY. 46T 

father, his mother, or some other person whom he is forced to regard. 
He goes to confession, but conceals this shameful sin; he heaps 
sacrilege on sacrilege, and continues doing so to the end. On his 
death-bed his last confession and communion are new sacrileges 
added to a life of sensuality and debauchery, and his impure soul 
falls into the hands of the living, all-holy God, — black with in- 
famies. 

I entreat you, my Brethren, to barken well to these words of St. 
Bernard: "As soon as an immodest thought enters your mind, 
resist it with vigor, and it will leave you ; but, if you harbor and 
dwell upon it, it Avill produce in your hearts a pleasure fatal to your 
innocence ; this pleasure will lead you to consent, consent to action, 
action to habit, habit to necessity, and necessity to eternal death." 
Oh no! let it never be thus with you; remain constantly virtuous, 
fly sin, keep yourselves removed from all occasions of danger, dread 
improper words, impure conversations, and continue faithful to this 
admonition of St. Francis de Sales: "Have no intercourse with 
persons whose morals you know to be tainted by sensuality, above 
all, when impudence is joined to Impurity, which is almost always 
the case. There are basilisks which carry their venom in their eyes 
and in their breath." Pray to the Lord, for it is only by His grace 
that you can be chaste and pure ; beseech Him then that He may 
give you grace, strength and wisdom, and that you may never cease 
to love the angelic virtue of holy purity. — Amen. 



SEEMON XCVI. 

ON ENVY. 



"Is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is thy eye evil, because I am 
good? — St. Matthew xx: 15. 

The Gospel tells us that the father of a family w^ent out at 
different hours of the day, and each time hired laborers, whom he 



468 SHORT SERMONS. 

sent into his vineyard to work. When evening came, he gave to 
all the same wages. Those who had worked all day began to mur- 
mur, and the master of the family said to them : ** Is it not lawful 
for me to do what I will ?" Can not I do as I please with my own ? 
"Is thy eye evil, because I am good?" Why are you jealous and 
envious of the advantages which I grant to these people ? Are 
they not your brethren, and must not they give bread to their child- 
ren? If I see proper to confer favors on them, you ought to rejoice 
at it ; but Envy is in your hearts, and hence you murmur and 
complain. Envy reigns everywhere, in every state, in every con- 
dition. May God grant you grace to detest and dread this sin, and 
to drive entirely from your hearts this vice, so odious and so fruitful 
in sin. 

What is Envy ? Envy is a sadness which a man feels at his 
neighbor's success, or a malignant joy which he entertains at the 
misfortunes of others, considering his neighbor's success as some- 
thing opposed and hurtful to his own honor and interest, and the 
calamities of others as a benefit to himself. 

Envy is a sin which of its nature imparts death to the soul. It is 
an unchristian and inhuman vice. It places a man in a state of 
perpetual opposition to the holy will of God ; it renders him 
hard-hearted, insensible, and incapable of henceforth loving his 
neighbor or of loving himself. 

The envious man sets himself up in opposition to the will of 
God : he is unwilling to submit to the order which divine Provi- 
dence has established in the world. Jealous of others, he finds 
fault with them, frets, is troubled and vexed at their happiness ; 
does he not hereby attack and censure God himself? Does he not 
blame His designs, insult His wisdom, and in some measure, accuse 
Him of partiality and injustice in the distribution which He has 
made of the goods of this world? *' With the Lord there is no 
exception of persons," and He disposes all things with supreme 
wisdom ; let man therefore adore the ways of God : is it not lawful 
for Him to do what He wills ? Is man's eye evil, because the Lord 
is good ? 

Our divine Saviour says to us: "I give you a new command- 
ment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. By this shall 
all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.'* 



ON ENVY. 469 

True charity is the distinctive mark of the Christian ; it is this that 
renders us like unto our blessed Lord ; it is this that makes us so 
many images of God, who is essentially goodness and charity. 
Therefore, the Apostle St. John bids us : **Love one another, for 
this is enough." But what is the office of this virtue of charity, so 
holy, and, at the same time so necessary, that " he who has it not 
abides in death?" St. Paul assures us that it consists in rejoicing 
with those that rejoice, and weeping with those that weep. Why ? 
The Apostle answers, because we are all members of one and the 
same body, whose head is Jesus Christ. In the human body, there 
exists so great a union, and so great a sympathy between the 
members that compose it, that, if one of them suffers, all the others 
take part in its pain ; and, if it be sound and healthy, all the others 
rejoice with it : in like manner, the Christian ought to experience 
a sentiment of sadness and affliction, whenever any misfortune or 
affliction befalls his neighbor ; and he should rejoice at the happiness 
and prosperity of his brethren as he rejoices at his own. These are 
the worthy, noble and generous sentiments which charity inspires. 
The envious person knows them not. 

There is no possible alliance between light and darkness ; there 
is still less between Christian charity and the inhuman vice of Envy. 
Instead of rejoicing at the happiness of his brother, the envious 
man is saddened and afflicted at it ; instead of helping to raise him 
up, he labors to undermine him in his business, and to thwart him 
in his undertakings ; instead of wishing, he fears and dreads his 
success. The Holy Spirit says : **Be ye joyful with them that are 
in joy ; be ye sad with them that are in sadness." No, says the 
envious man; but, on the contrary, be full of joy when your brother 
suffers, be sad when he is in joy. 

The envious man therefore can not love his neighbor ; can he at 
least love himself? No ; for he harbors in his heart a passion, of 
its own nature baneful to his health, which embitters his whole 
existence. Night and day, the sight and remembrance of the pros- 
perity and happiness of others pursue him, torment and gnaw 
his heart. He loves not himself, for he robs his soul of its finest 
ornaments; he strips it of every sentiment of generosity and 
benevolence ; deprives himself of the friendship of heaven, — rejects 
the grace of God ; and, at the same time, rendei-s himself unworthy 



4rT0 SHORT SERMONS. 

of tlie esteem and love of his fellow men. The envious man there- 
fore is his own executioner. 

In the heart which Envy governs, there is no peace with God, no 
confoiraity and submission to His holy will, no love of the neigh- 
bor, no true love of self. St. Augustine says, that Envy is a dia- 
•bolical sin, and St. Paul in his epistle to the Galatians* tells us 
that envious persons deserve eternal death, and that they who are 
guilty of this vice "shall not obtain the kingdom of God," for 
Envy despoils man of every virtue, and drags him into a vast 
number of sins no less odious than itself It begets detractions, 
calumnies, injustice, persecution, and even sometimes leads to murder. 

The envious man frequently has recourse to the most odious 
insinuations; it costs him little to calumniate and blacken the 
character of him whom God blesses and favors. A man enjoys 
the confidence of the people, and his business is in a flourishing 
condition : turn a deaf ear to the malicious hints of his neighbor 
who envies his success, and seeks, by insidious words, to cast upon 
him unjust suspicions : he will speak to you of frauds in weights 
and measure, and of cheating in the quality of the goods that you 
buy, but hearken not to him. Another man, active, vigilant and 
laborious, aided by the Divine protection, succeeds in his enter- 
prises, and advances rapidly in the road of fortune. Take care of 
what the envious man, who is jealous of his prosperity, will say 
about him. "I would like to know," he says, **how this man gets 
rich so soon ; we must suspect the honesty of him who can make 
a fortune in a few days." Another happens to be elected or ap- 
pointed to a post of honor. The envious man strips him of every 
noble quality of mind and heart, ridicules him and holds him up to 
public contempt, as a person possessing a head without brains, and 
a heart destitute of every generous impulse. A fine and noble deed 
has been performed, — and every one applauds it ; but these en- 
comiums press heavily upon the heart of the envious man. He can 
not deny the fact, but he will impeach the intention. In this work, 
so noble and praiseworthy, he discovers only self-love, hypocrisy, 
ambition, the desire of praise, or other motives still more repre- 
hensible. Thus do the envious scatter the tares and cockle of 

* Galatians, v. 



ON ENVY. 471 

detraction and caliiranj among the good grain in the field of the 
father of the family ; nor will he stop here. Often are his projects 
cruel, frightful and horrible, and to accomplish them, he scruples no 
means, however base and criminal ; he resorts to cunning and 
violence, to larceny and robbery, and, as the Scriptures says, in- 
justice fills his hands. To glut his detestable passion, will he not, 
at least, dread the shedding of blood ? Alas ! history is full of the 
crimes which Envy has produced. It was Envy that nerved the 
arm of Cain to strike down his brother; Envy cast Joseph into a 
pit to die, and then united with avarice to sell him into slavery ; 
it was Envy, in a word, that drove the Jews to perpretate the most 
awful of crimes, — the murder of the Son of God. Justly then did 
St Cyprian call Envy the source of every evil, the origin of murders, 
and of an infinite number of sins. Hence, Envy imparts to the 
countenance of those whom it possesses a dark and sinister appear- 
ance, — a sad and touching effect of the Divine foresight, whioh thus 
warns us to avoid the envious. 

Divine Providence rules and governs all things in the world. 
Caprice has naught to do in the distribution which He makes of the 
goods of earth. The Lord portions them to His children, con- 
formably to the decrees of His eternal wisdom and bounty ; to 
some He gives much, to others less, but always in accordance with 
His wise and adorable views. It can not be otherwise, for God 
is just and loves us all. Let us therefore ever respect the ways of 
the Lord, and take care not to be jealous of our neighbor, because 
of the riches which God gives him. Why are you not contented 
with the state in which you are ? It is the hand of God that has 
placed you there. If you had received more, perhaps you would 
be lost. Do you not know that men frequently become avaricious 
when they- possess rich treasures and vast revenues ? Do you not 
know that the avaricious are insensible to the miseries of the poor, 
that they never open their hands to help their suffering and starving 
brethren, and that they are lost for all eternity ; for it is written, 
"that the covetous shall never enter the kingdom of heaven ?'* 
Never desire to possess too much wealth, — it is dangerous, and 
God will require much of him to whom much has been given. If 
you are poor, you may desire to obtain a sufficiency to promote 
your earthly comfort, for this is reasonable ; but labor to acquire it 



472 8H0KT SERMONS. 

instead of envying the goods which others have obtained by their 
toil. If God wishes to retain you in mediocrity, remember that 
the Holy Ghost warns ns that it is there we can most easily work 
out our salvation. Learn therefore to be satisfied with what you 
possess of the goods of this world, which you must abandon at the 
hour of death ; and enrich your souls, for you can do so, with those 
goods which will follow you into eternity : that is to say, be just 
and good, pious and charitable, love God and your neighbor ; be 
patient in trials and afflictions, benevolent in prosperity and in 
every condition of life, according to your means ; these are the true 
goods, — the only true riches, by means of which you can purchase 
a place in the kingdom of heaven. — Amen. 



SERMON XCVII. 

ON GLUTTONY OR INTEMPERANCE, 



"And take heed to yourselves, least perhaps your hearts be overcharged with 
surfeiting and drunkenness." — St. Luke, xxi : 34. 

Exceedingly dangerous and subtle is the artifice, which the devil, 
the enemy of our salvation, has recourse to, when he induces a man 
to make use of the very blessings he has received from Almighty 
God to offend His divine Majesty. Bread and wine, — food and 
drink were given to man to enable him to live, to preserve his body 
in health and strength, that he might, for a longer time, render to 
his Creator the worship and homage which are due him. But the 
infernal spirit ceases not soliciting us to abuse these gifts in gratify- 
ing our sensuality, to convert these treasures of the bounty and 
liberality of our heavenly Father into treasures of sin and crime, 
by using them to excess. It is in this the sin of Gluttony consists, 
of which I propose speaking to you in this instruction, and against 
which our divine Saviour seeks to forewarn us when He says : " Take 



ON GLUTTONY OR INTEMPERANCE. 473 

heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with 
surfeiting and drunkenness." 

Gluttony is an inordinate love of eating and drinking. The most 
dangerous kind of gluttony is drunkenness, which, nevertheless, is 
also the most common, in the country and in cities, among the rich 
as well as the poor. We are Christians, and we should all say 
with St. Augustine: **Thou hast taught me, Lord, to take my 
food as men take medicine, that they may recruit strength, may 
recover and preserve the health of their bodies." We should never 
lose sight of those beautiful words of the Apostle: "Therefore, 
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do ; do all things 
for the glory of God."* We will follow this advice of the Holy 
Ghost, if we take nourishment only according to our wants, and 
not to gratify our sensual appetities. But there are people, who, 
after having abundantly satisfied what the body and health demand, 
are not yet content ; they eat and drink without necessity, — they 
eat and drink even to excess, nay, they even materially injure their 
health, and render themselves incapable of discharging the indis- 
pensable duties of their state ; they drink until they are drunk, — 
until they are deprived of the use of reason. Very often such 
persons as these commit mortal sin by their excess. 

Are these excesses criminal before God ? Who can doubt it ? 
Is not this a vice diametrically opposed to nature and to man's 
vocation ? You have been taught from your childhood this truth, 
which has passed into a proverb : that we must not live to eat, but eat 
to live. What ! is not that degrading vice a crime, which robs man 
of his noblest ornament and deprives him of the most precious gift 
which he has received from the bounty of his Creator ? , What is this 
gift : what is this ornament ? It is reason. It is it that renders man 
like to the angels, and that constitutes his chief and greatest glory. 
He should make every exertion to preserve it in all its integrity, while, 
on the contrary, by abandoning himself to intemperance, he not only 
consents to what weakens it, but very frequently destroys it forever, 
as sad experience daily proves. He degrades himself, even to the 
level of the brute beast. How disgraceful it is for a rational being 
to reduce himself to such a state that we can not perceive a difference 



* 1 Corinthians, X : 31. 
40 



474 SHORT SERMONS. 

between liim and the beasts of the field ! nay, lie even sets himself 
below them, for instinct prevents the beast from going to that excess, 
which reason does not hinder the drunkard from reaching. In fact, 
says St. John Chrysostom, when animals eat and drink, they take 
only what is sufficient to satisfy their wants, while man transcends 
all bounds and goes even to excess. Is it not a shame that he, to 
whom God has given an absolute empire over all inferior beings, 
should place himself beneath them, — that the slave should become 
master, and the master slave ? The Holy Ghost refers the sluggard 
to the ant to learn from it prudence and wisdom : permit me to 
send the glutton and drunkard to learn from the brutes the rules 
of temperance, and that they alone give themselves up to a raven- 
ous propensity, that they alone seek sensuality in the necessity of 
eating and drinking, and find weakness, infirmities, sickness and 
death, where they should have found vigor, life and health. Is it 
not true that Gluttony kills more than the sword, and that it 
engenders and develops the germ of far the greater number of 
diseases which afflict and destroy men ? Who then can imagine 
that this vice is not a crime ? Does it not render us odious to God, 
deprive us of His grace and love ? — is it not a vice which the holy 
doctors of the Church call the father of iniquity, the foe of virtue, a 
voluntary demon, the shame and disgrace of the human family ? 

Be not deceived, my Brethren, this is a most criminal vice, for 
the Lord has cursed it. " Woe to you, that are mighty to drink wine, 
and stout men at drunkenness : . . . therefore, as the tongue of the fire 
devoureth the stubble, and the heat of the flame consnmeth it ; so 
shall their root be as ashes, their bud go up as dust."* 

The Almighty declared by the mouth of His Apostle, that drunk- 
ards shall not possess the kingdom of heaven. "Take heed to 
yourselves," says the Holy Ghost, "lest perhaps your hearts be 
overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness." The liquor, which 
you drink in such quantities, will enter " pleasantly, but in the end 
it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a 
basilisk." f 

Justly then, my Brethren, should we detest this vice, which 
degrades and brutalizes man, destroys his health, shortens his days, 

* Isaias, v: 22. f Proverbs, xxiii : 31,32. 



ON GLUTTONY OR INTEMPERANCE, 475 

renders him odious to God, and finally plunges liira into the abyss 
of eternal misery, after having led him in this world through all 
the wicked ways of sin and error. 

St. Chrysostom was right when he compared drunkenness to a 
stagnant pool full of pestiferous water. As it engenders serpents 
and other venomous animals, drunkenness begets all other vices. 
You know it well, — the fatal passion of Intemperance is the fruitful 
cause of disputes and quarrels. Too often the meetings of friends 
degenerate into bloody fights, and the halls of drinking saloons are 
transformed into battle fields. 

The drunkard is also the slave of lust. ** Wine is a luxurious 
thing, says the Holy Ghost, "and drunkenness riotous: whosoever 
is delighted therewith shall not be w^ise."* When the body is sur- 
feited with eating and drinking, the virtue of the soul is destroyed 
by lust. It is among drunkards that you will find youths without 
modesty, — faithless husbands and wives, — old people without 
shame, dishonoring their grey hairs by this abject vice. 

The drunkard is also irreligious. See this young man, who once 
had the courage to fulfill all his duties, and lead a truly Christian 
life. Now he renounces prayer, neglects Mass, forsakes the sacra- 
ments, forgets the truths of religion, abhors sermons, and no longer 
adores God. St. Ambrose says, sobriety is the mother of faith, and 
Intemperance the mother of infidelity. But the drunkard will say 
to us: "despite my excesses, and however criminal they may appear 
to you, I still preserve my faith and hold on to my religion." 
I answer in the words of St. Paul : You serve not the Lord Jesus 
Christ, — you serve your belly ; that is your god, to it you render 
your worship, to it you offer the sacrilegious homage of your affec- 
tions ; you have no religion ! 

But there are yet other evils arising to the drunkard from his 
drunkenness, and as chief among them we may reckon the neglect 
of all the duties of his state, and the ruin of his family. What, 
indeed, can we expect from the father, who gives himself up to 
excessive drinking, and spends his time in the beer shops, instead 
of being engaged at his work ? In place of providing for his 
children and enriching his family, whatever property he may have 

* Proverbs, xx : 1 . 



476 SHORT SERMONS. 

inherited is squandered in folly, and his earnings spent in paying 
the debts contracted by his Intemperance. He soon becomes both 
unable and unwilling to work, and spends his time with idle 
vagrants, M^ho support themselves by dishonesty and crime. Yes ! 
drunkenness also makes a man dishonest. To frequent the drinking 
house, the drunkard must have money, and there is no act so base, 
none so unjust that he will not commit to obtain the means of 
gratifying his passion for drink. Therefore it is that we so often 
hear of habitual drunkards being caught in the very act of stealing. 
The Holy Ghost says: "A workman that is a drunkard shall not 
be rich;'** shame and confusion shall entirely overwhelm him. 
Yes, shame on the drunkard ! shame on the slaves of this infamous 
vice ! For, see, my Brethren, see ; in that house are children in 
need of the commonest necessaries of life, and dying through want. 
They are hungry, cold and naked, w^hile their father is at the very 
same moment in the tavern, brutalizing himself with drink. They 
weep, poor children, with their unfortunate mother, but their tears 
shall soon give place to terror. Listen ! do you not hear in the 
distance an approaching noise ? It is the sound of blasphemy and 
imprecations, which announces the return of the father. The door 
is opened : he enters with a volley of curses and blasphemies. All 
tremble, — all fly before him. ye drunkards, how great is the 
crime you commit ! and how great the scandal you give your 
children ! perhaps they will imitate you, will walk in your footsteps, 
and one day will make you pay dearly for your present criminal 
conduct ! Have you never seen a drunken and unnatural son drag 
his father by his gray hairs through the mire, and trample beneath 
his feet the breast that nourished him ? Look closely at that intox- 
icating cup, which you are about to drink, and you shall see in it the 
bitterness of discord, enmity, hatred, disputes and fights ; you shall 
see there tears, — blood, — your ruin for time and for eternity ! and 
will you still dare continue in your mad career ? Will you never 
be converted? Not, I suppose, while you are in health. Will you 
even at the hour of death ? So rare is the conversion of the drunk- 
ard that it almost deserves to be counted a miracle. And how 
many are the drunkards who die in a state of complete insensibility, 

* Ecclesiasticus, xix : 1. 



ON ANGER. 47Y 

whose souls awaken only at the foot of God's judgment throne ! 
What an awful death ! What a terrible judgment ! 

O my Brethren, remember, all the days of your life, that it is 
written in the Holy Scriptures, that drunkards shall never possess 
the kingdom of God.* On whom does every misfortune fall ? 
The Divine Spirit says : on them ** that pass tlieii- time in wine, 
and study to drink off their cups/'j- Recollect the evils, the vices, 
and the crimes, the shame and infamy which flow so abundantly 
from this dreadful vice ; dread it, — never contract the habit of 
drinking, and avoid the society of habitual drinkers. Christians, 
remember that it was to condemn and expiate your unhappy ex- 
cesses that the Son of God willed that His burning thirst should be 
cooled with vinegar and gall, upon the cross on which He died for 
you. From the height of that cross He still says to you: "Take 
heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with 
surfeiting and drunkenness." — Amen. 



SERMON XCVIII. 

ON ANGER. 



"Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a foo]." — Ecclesi- 
ASTES, vii : 10. 

Intemperance in eating or drinking is an odious vice, exceedingly 
displeasing to God, and deserving our most sincere detestation. As 
long as you bear in mind what I told you in my last instruction, 
you will never give yourselves up to this abominable sin. I intend 
speaking to you to-day of another vice still more common, and 
which seems even less dreaded, since people often urge it as an 
excuse for the sins which they have committed. The words of 
Holy Writ, which I have just cited in my text, have already told 

* 1 Corinthians, vi. + Proverbg, xxiii : 30, t Ecelegiasti«us, xix. 



478 SHORT SERMONS. 

you that Anger is an act of folly, and that it rests in the hosom of 
fools. But it is still worse, my Brethren, for Anger is often a very 
grievous sin, one which merits a place among the capital sins, because 
it is the origin of many others grievously offensive to the Lord. 

What is Anger ? Anger is an inordinate emotion, which induces 
us to repel with violence what displeases us. Commonly speaking, 
Anger is the effect of a passion which sways the heart, and which is 
excited at the sight of any obstacle which opposes the fulfillment of 
its desires. The proud man breaks out against whatever wounds his 
vanity or ambition ; the miser is provoked when any thing disturbs 
his projects of gain ; sensual persons are exasperated whenever they 
are thwarted in their pleasures. This anger is not according to 
God ; on the contrary, the Lord condemns it. He wishes that we 
who have the happiness of being called, and who are in reality His 
children, should practice charity toward one another, and that we 
should look upon one another as brethren. Hence, the Apostle 
says to us: "Bear with one another, and you shall fulfill the law 
of God.'' Christians, we are the disciples of Jesus Christ, and we 
should all walk in His footsteps. "I came into the world," He says, 
" that you may have a model. I have given you an example, that 
you may imitate, and do what I have done. Learn of me, because 
I am meek and humble of heart." We must, therefore, labor 
strenuously to approach as near as possible to this divine model ; 
**I beseech you therefore," with the illustrious Apostle St. Paul, 
"to conduct yourselves in such a manner, that you may be worthy 
of the high state to which you have been called ; in all things, 
practicing humility, meekness, patience, supporting . one another in 
charity." Now, he that gives way to Anger and opens his heart 
to the fell spirit of revenge, acts in direct opposition to what 
God commands, he refuses to follow his Saviour, and despises the 
admonition and exhortations of the Holy Ghost. He can no longer 
be considered a disciple of Him, who loved us so much, that He 
wished to die for us, and was pleased to be led to the cruel punish- 
ment of the cross like a lamb to the slaughter, without opening His 
mouth. This thought alone, dear Christians, should be sufficient to 
make us detest Anger. But you will understand still better how 
fi-ightful is this vice, when you consider the sad effects which it 
produces and the sins which it causes us to commit. 



ON ANGER. 479 

I wish that an angry man could see himself in a glass, when under 
the influence of his passion. The change in his features would make 
the degradation of his soul so manifest, that he could not help being 
completely ashamed of the disgusting spectacle which he would 
present to others. See' that man whose Anger has got the better 
of him ; his eyes are inflamed, his lips tremble, he foams from the 
mouth, his hairs stand erect, his face seems on fire, — his words are 
furious, — sharp, — half-broken, — all his body is in convulsive move- 
ments. And is this, my God, a Christian? is this, my divine 
Lord, one of Thy disciples, — one of Thy brethren ? He is not 
even a man, but a raging beast, ready to tear every thing to pieces, 
if he be not caged. He thirsts for vengeance ; not having it in his 
power to obtain it, he invokes the demons to assist him, and in his 
mad rage outrageously blasphemes the holy name of the Omnipo- 
tent God. Impious wretch, he would tear the Almighty from His 
throne, to sacrifice Him to the abominable spirit which governs him. 

What a frightful spectacle, my Brethren, and how well calculated 
to horrify every man who has any idea of his own dignity, or any 
fear of the Lord 1 But not only does Anger render a man like a 
savage and ferocious animal, it also destroys the peace and tran- 
quillity of families ; it sows broadcast the seeds of discord, hatred 
and enmity between citizens of the same country, between inhabit- 
tants of the same city, between neighbors, even between children 
of one and the same mother. Not unfrequently it causes the most 
crying acts of injustice, — it strikes and wounds, — it gives rise to 
murders and homicides. The angry man hears not what is said, 
sees not what takes place before his eyes, and has but an imperfect 
knowledge of what he himself does. The angry man is capable 
of breaking in pieces his most precious things, he is disposed to 
outrage what he ought most to venerate, to insult him whom he 
should most revere, to slay the very being who is nearest and 
dearest to his heart. Yes, truly, there is blood in the ungovernable 
passion of Anger ! 

In the very earliest dawn of history, I behold the earth crimsoned 
with blood, and it is with innocent blood, shed by a brother's hand. 
Cain, jealous and frantic because God has rejected his sacrifice, 
murders his brother Abel through anger. David delivered Saul 
from the proud Philistines who daily came to insult the army of 



480 SHORT SERMONS. 

the people of God ; David bravely fought for his country and his 
king, and victory crowned his efforts. Saul ought to have joined 
his people and united his voice with those of his subjects in cele- 
brating the glory and triumph of the young warrior. On the con- 
trary, he is incensed, — he gives himself up to Anger, and wishes to 
pierce the heart of his liberator. 

The sweet delights of peace and harmony reigned in the happy 
family of the holy old man, Tobias ; it seemed as if nothing could 
mar their happiness : but, behold, the wife of Tobias gives way to 
an unjust fit of anger, undeservedly reproaches her husband, and 
peace and happiness at once disappear. ''The Anger of man 
worketh not the justice of God.* A passionate man provoketh 
quarrels : and he that is easily stiiTed up to wrath, shall be more 
prone to sin."! 

The inspired penman tells us that the passionate man shall 
become guilty of many criminal acts toward his neighbor, and that 
he shall be his own murderer. In truth, violent outbreaks of 
Anger impair the health, engender diseases, abridge life and cause 
sudden deaths. Alas ! how many people are there, whom my 
prayers have accompanied to the grave, who now sleep among the 
dead, and who might have been still living had they subdued their 
Anger ? But the constant indulgence of this furious passion broke 
down their constitutions, and sent them to a premature grave. 
God grant that their souls are not lost, that all feelings of hatred 
and revenge were extinguished in them in their dying moments, and 
that they have departed out of this world in sentiments of perfect 
charity ! But I tremble when I consider that the Holy Ghost 
places Anger, dissensions and quarrels among the number of those 
sins which shut heaven and exclude men from the kingdom of 
God. 

But is Anger always sinful ? Is there not a just and reason- 
able Anger ? Yes, my Brethren, there is a just and lawful 
Anger, — it is that which proceeds from a well-regulated zeal for 
the honor and glory of God and for the preservation of virtue. 
It is of this Anger that St. Paul speaks, when he quotes these 
words of the royal prophet: "Be ye angry, and sin not."]; This 

* St. James, i : 20. f Proverbs, xxix : 22. $ Psalms, iv : 5. 



ON ANGER. 481 

is not only not reprehensible, but it is even worthy of our praise, 
and would to God that all Christians, and chiefly those who have 
authority over others, were animated by it ! We should not then 
witness so many excesses in the world, — ^we should not then hear 
of so many scandals, curses, oaths and blasphemies. This justifi- 
able Anger, which is not a violent burst of passion, but a holy 
indignation produced in the soul by the desire of doing good, we 
would like always to see in you, fathers and mothers. What happy 
results would it not produce ! It would restrain your children 
within the bounds of duty, — it would banish bad habits from your 
houses, and God would be feared, loved and honored in them. For, 
imitating the example of Jesus Christ, you would never permit vice 
to soil your abodes, which ought to be the temples of the true God, 
and houses of prayer. Were you to act thus, **you would be 
angry, and sin not;'* on the contrary, you would do what God 
commands you, and He would approve of your conduct, and bless 
you ; your Anger would be far different from that which our Saviour 
condemns, when He threatens with a severe judgment those who 
keep Anger against their neighbor. 

My Brethren, let us bear in mind those words of our blessed 
Lord : Be not Angry against thy brother ; be quickly reconciled 
with thy adversary. *'If thou offerest thy gift at the altar, and there 
shalt remember that thy brother hath any thing against thee ; leave 
there thy gift before the altar, and first go to be reconciled to thy 
brother."* Forgive your brethren. "You have heard that it hath 
been said : Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy. 
But I say to you : Love your enemies : do good to them that hate 
you : and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you ; that 
you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. "f Live in 
friendship with all. If it be not possible for you to prevent certain 
motions of Anger from rising in your mind, at least, endeavor to 
have command enough over yourselves to repress them. Remove 
at once, if you can, from the object which excites yom- Anger ; keep 
silence as long as the fit of passion lasts ; give time for reason to 
return to its throne, for your feelings to grow calm, and judgment 
to resume its empire over you. Be Christians, resigned to the holy 

* St. Matthew, v. t Idem, v. 

41 



482 SHORT SERMONS . 

will of G-od, convinced that, without this holy will, nothing takes 
place in this world ; and then, the injustice of the wicked shall not 
provoke you to Anger, — calumny shall cease to exasperate you, — 
you shall remain immovable amid all injuries, because you will 
recognize in the offence which you receive from your fellow-creature, 
only the chastisement which our common Father inflicts upon you 
for your sins ; you will leave revenge to the Lord, and will never 
wish to depart from the path of sweetness, forgiveness and good- 
ness, which your Saviour and your model has trod before you. — 
Amen. 



SERMON XCIX. 

ON SLOTH. 



" He that tilleth his ground, shall be filled with bread : but he that foUoweth 
idleness, shall be filled with poverty." — Proverbs, xxviii : 19. "Idleness 
hath taught much evil." — ^Ecclesiasticus, xxiii : 29. 

Sloth is unquestionably a low and contemptible vice ; though at 
first sight it does not appear to have the odious character which 
distinguishes the other capital sins. It is only when we have thor- 
oughly examined it, that we are compelled to admit that it is a 
detestable vice, — a dangerous vice, — a vice which causes the des- 
truction of thousands of souls, and which is justly ranked among 
the number of the capital or deadly sins. You will acknowledge 
the truth of what I advance, my Brethren, if you listen attentively 
to what I have to say about it. 

What is Sloth ? It is a species of dullness and sluggishness of 
the soul, which gives us an aversion for virtue, and tends to prevent 
us from accomplishing the duties common to all Christians, or those 
which are peculiar to our state of life. It is a mortal sin whenever 
it causes us to fail in the discharge of any important obligation. 
There is a natural Sloth, which inclines us to idleness and a dislike 
for labor. There is a spiritual Sloth, which inclines us to neglect 



ON SLOTH. ^ 488 

our duties as Christians, and against which our Saviour forewarns 
us when he says: "Watch, for you know not at what hour the 
Lord shall come." The two kinds of Sloth are sisters, but they do 
not always dwell together. In fact, a person may be vigilant and 
active enough in the things of this world, who has but little care 
for those of the next ; he will consider no labor too great for him 
to undertake, to advance his worldly prospects and increase his 
fortune; but he is sluggish, negligent and faint-hearted in what 
relates to the service of God and the salvation of his soul. He 
neglects nothing to secure himself against the evils of time, while 
he does nothing to avert those of eternity. This Sloth is directly 
opposed to that love which God wishes us to have for our souls. 
It is directly contrary to the first and greatest of the command- 
ments, which is the loving and serving of God alone. Does that 
man truly love himself who has no relish for virtue and for 
heaven? Does he love God with his whole heart, — he who is 
careless, indifferent, and even cold in the performance of -what God 
commands ? Far from it. Therefore it is that the Lord declares 
that he can not endure such, and that they will be rejected by him. 
If it is one of the first duties of us Christians to serve God with 
an increasing zeal, to love Him daily more and more, never to 
look back when once we have put our hands to the plough, but 
unceasingly to advance in the ways of perfection, acquiring every 
instant new merits, and heaping up riches for that day when we 
shall be summoned to our eternal country ; if this is our duty, how 
can that man be loved of God, and what must he expect from 
Him, — who, in the service of the Lord, passes his life in sinful 
idleness, in forgetfulness of his soul and his eternal salvation ; who 
has no care to increase in virtue, piety and perfection ; who neglects 
to discharge the most sacred obligations of his state, and murmurs 
when he has to do what his divine Master commands ? What can 
he expect from God? Let him learn it from the Lord himself; by 
the mouth of His Prophet Jeremias, He says: "Cursed be he that 
doeth the work of the Lord negligently ! "* Our blessed Lord con- 
demned the servant that neglected to improve the talent which his 
master had intrusted to his care ; He commanded that the barren 

* Jeremias, xlviii : 10. 



484 SHORT SERMONS. 

fig-tree, and every tree that brought not forth good fruit, should be 
cut down and cast into the fire. ** Cursed be he that doeth the work 
of the Lord negligently ! " Heaven grant that this awful threat may 
never be realized in the case of any of the souls that the Lord has 
confided to my care ! Would to God there was not even one sloth- 
ful person among us ! But, alas ! it is not one, but many we have 
in om* midst, who seldom or never think of God and their salvation ; 
who have no taste, no zeal, no care but for temporal things ; who 
run after these with the greatest speed, while they are slow, sluggish 
and heavy in pursuit of the most important of all affairs, — that of 
their eternal salvation ; who are never ready, never disposed, when 
there is a question of taking part in a good work ; who neglect the 
duties of their state, fail to comply with the commandments of God 
and His Church, because they find them hard and difficult, or who 
observe them only against their will. Alas ! too many are the Chris- 
tians who are slothful with respect to God and their souls ! What 
a multitude who suffer the days consecrated to the Lord to pass by 
unprofitably ! Who content themselves with hearing a low mass, 
through human respect or custom ; who assist at it with distracted 
minds, without devotion and without prayer, always finding the 
service too long, and fearing lest the minister of God should ascend 
the pulpit to address them some few words of exhortation ; so 
great is their desire to hasten back to their business, their amuse- 
ments, their wordly pleasures, or their sinful gratifications in the tip- 
pling shops and taverns ! Is not the number of those unworthy and 
criminally slothful Christians very great, who, though heaping sin 
upon sin, and swallowing down iniquity like water, yet are not in 
the least disturbed at their unhappy state, and delay their conver- 
sion without scruple ? They resist the voice of the Holy Ghost cal- 
ling them to repentance ; they return not to God, but go on amusing 
themselves in the paths of vice, and when they present themselves, 
as they one day must, at the door of the bridegroom's house, must 
they not expect to hear Him say: "I know you not?'* They lay 
up for themselves a treasure of wrath against the day of wrath ; 
and when shall that day come ? perhaps it will be to-morrow1 

These also should be reckoned among the slothful, — who shun 
and hate those courageous people who reproach and reprimand them 
for their sins. The Holy Ghost marks them, so to speak, with the 



ON SLOTH. 485 

seal of reprobation, for He says : "The man that with a stiff neck 
despiseth him that reproveth him, shall suddenly be destroyed."* 
Such a one sneers and laughs at simple and devout persons, mocks 
their piety, and turns into ridicule the religious exercises which 
they practice : but the Scriptures tell us that there is in hell a class 
of miserable wretches, who reproach themselves with having mocked 
at the just and considered as a folly the regular life which these led 
on earth. Eternally shall they repeat, with unutterable grief: ** We 
fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honor; 
behold, how they are numbered among the children of Grod, and 
their lot is among the saints."f 

Very grievous, my Brethren, are the sins which spring from 
Sloth : it produces forgetfulness of God, of salvation and eternity ; 
it begets contempt for the commandments, for the word of God, and 
for the practices of piety, — it keeps men in the way of perdition, — 
it is the mother of hard-heartedness and of final impenitence. It is 
therefore with reason that a holy father calls Sloth the bed and 
pillow of the devil, and that the Holy Ghost compares it to a wild 
and uncultivated ground, full of bad weeds, and whose entire surface 
is covered with thorns. It is a dismal solitude, for the soul in 
which it prevails possesses no virtue ; — it is a dreary desert, full of 
horrors, for sin abounds there. Surely, my Brethren, you will 
dread and shun Sloth, since you wish to please God and gain 
heaven. Thank God, there are in this world many fervent Christ- 
ians, — many excellent models of every virtue. No doubt, the days 
in which we live are evil, still there is a goodly number of people, 
who endeavor to fulfill God's holy will. I set them before you as 
an example for your imitation. Yes, my Brethren, imitate these 
true Christians, who piously and fervently assist at the prayers of 
the Church, who glory in the cross of Jesus Christ, who delight to 
come frequently to purify their souls in the salutary waters of 
penance, and to receive strength by partaking of the bread of 
angels in the holy Eucharist. Imitate these true disciples of the 
Saviour, who are meek and humble of heart, who readily forgive 
their enemies, who love their neighbors, and have compassion for 
the afflicted and the poor. Imitate these devout parents who take 

* Proverbs, xxix: 1. t Wisdom, v : 4. 



486 SHORT SERMONS. 

good care of their families, who rear up their children in a Christian 
manner, assiduously watching over their domestics, and estab- 
lishing the reign of religion and virtue in the hearts of all under 
their charge. Imitate them, he like them, laborious, be like them, 
vigilant, and employ in a holy and worthy manner, the days of 
your life, the number of which is fixed, and for the good or bad 
use of which you must shortly render an account. Let us carefully 
husband those precious moments which so rapidly glide away, and 
which shall never more return. Let us be servants faithfully and 
constantly occupied with the work of our heavenly Master, — busy 
about the salvation of our souls, that, when the Lord shall come, 
we may be able confidently to address Him in His own divine 
words: "I have glorified Thee upon earth: I have finished the 
work which Thou gavest me to do."* The Supreme Ruler is 
just and equitable, — He will render to each one according to his 
works : sorrow, shame and confusion to the slothful and negligent 
servant; peace, happiness and glory to the vigilant and faithful. 
Endeavor then, my Brethren, all of you, to be of the number of 
servants whom the Lord loves and rewards, — it is in your power. 
If you fear that your strength will fail you, pray, and God will 
pour into your hearts His graces and blessings, fortitude and 
wisdom. Thus, supported and strengthened, you shall do good, — 
you shall avoid evil, — and you will deserve to be one day addressed 
in the consoling words : "Well done, good and faithful servants, 
enter into the joy of your Lord." — Ameij. 

* St. John, xvii : 4. 



ON OUR INCLINATION TO SIN. 487 



SERMON C. 
ON OUR INCLINATION TO SIN 



" For the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his 
youth." — Genesis, viii : 21. 

It is from the moutli of the priest that the faithful must learn the 
science of salvation. It is our duty to make known to you the law 
of God, that you may observe it ; the heauty of virtue, that you 
may adhere to it ; and the deformity of vice, that you may detest 
and shun it. I believe I have fulfilled this duty by giving you a 
complete course of instruction on Christian doctrine. Do you 
desire now to love and practice truth and virtue ? Do you desire 
to detest and avoid vice and error ? Do you, in a word, desire to 
combat and overcome the natural Inclination to Sin which exists in 
your hearts? If you do, make good use of the means which I am 
about to point out to you, and you shall certainly attain your desire. 

To combat and overcome this invisibe power, this violent inclin- 
ation which too often draws us away from God, and drags us into 
sin, we must first of all be convinced that virtue is of all things the 
most necessary for us, that it is a duty incumbent on us to endeavor 
to be saints. Now, is this the sentiment of the generality even of 
Christians? Alas! how often do we not hear people say: "We 
are not angels, and can not be expected to fulfill such difficult 
duties. What harm can there be in following inclinations which 
are founded in our very nature ? We must live, must get on in 
the world, and this we never can do as long as we confine ourselves 
within the narrow limits of strict virtue. What we do, multitudes 
of others also do, and why should we not live like the rest of man- 
kind ? Beside, temptations are so frequent and so strong, that it is 
impossible always to resist them ; and our passions are so violent, 
that there can not be much harm in sometimes yielding to them." 
Such, my Brethren, are the thoughts which, in some form or other. 



488 SHORT SERMONS. 

we but too often hear expressed by many who call themselves 
Christians. Can we be astonished that, while such sentiments 
prevail, young men are to be found without shame, and young girls 
without modesty ; grown men unjust, and old men irreligious ? 
They deny that virtue is a duty, and consequently make no effort to 
practice it : but this is the language of vice and folly, and not that 
of truth and wisdom. 

No, my Brethren, we must not obey the voice of our senses and 
our passions, we must not follow our animal instincts, as if we were 
beings void of intelligence ; we must not make ourselves like to the 
brute. We are not permitted to use all means, whether good or 
bad, just or unjust, to procure for ourselves what we suppose to be 
useful or agreeable to us in this world. The Almighty has given 
us reason and conscience, that we may know how to distinguish 
right from wrong, good from evil ; and the better still to preserve 
us from being deceived, He has revealed to us His divine will, and 
by the religion which He has established, made known to us the 
laws we must fulfill. "Be ye holy," He says, **for I the Lord 
your God am holy;" and again, *'be ye perfect, as your heavenly 
Father is perfect." Thus too by the mouth of His Apostle St. 
Paul, He assures us that it is His desire that we should all become 
saints ; that we should contribute to His glory, by advancing in 
the practice of good works ; should put off the old man conceived 
in sin, and put on the new man created to His own divine image. 

Virtue is therefore a duty incumbent on us. He who denies its 
necessity, manifests the corruption of his heart, and is condemned 
by both reason and conscience. He belies himself and speaks thus 
only because he wishes to lead an easy life. He never would give 
expression to such language if, entering into himself, he were 
seriously to consider the day of his death, and the eternity which 
awaits him. He certainly will not speak thus, when he is called on 
to leave the world. He shall then find truth in his heart and in his 
soul. On his bed of death, surrounded by his children, he will say 
to them : "My children, be wise and virtuous : this is your first 
duty; love your religion, and observe its precepts, for thus alone 
can you attain happiness. Fly vice, practice virtue, such is the 
will, — such is the command of God, Walk before the Lord in 
justice and holiness ; resist your passions, struggle against the 



ON OUR INCLINATION TO SIN. 489 

dangerous inclination whicli incites you to sin, for we are not beings 
of a day, who appear for an instant and then fall back into nothing- 
ness. We were made to live forever ; eternity awaits us ; eternity 
unceasingly tells us that we should not live here below like the 
brute beasts, slaves to base instincts and shameful passions. We 
must do good, and practice virtue if we desire to be happy in this 
world, and eternally happy in the next." 

But, my Brethren, is it possible for us to overcome this danger- 
ous enemy, which we bear about in our own hearts ? It is, pro- 
vided we are men of good will. Good and evil are set before us, 
and we can choose either, for God created us free. Man can love 
vice and live in sin, or he can choose virtue and live in the practice 
of good works. All depends on his own will. But innumerable is 
the multitude of those who want this good will, and few desire to 
do violence to themselves. It is so much easier to give reins to our 
passions, to sully our souls with a mass of iniquity, and then to 
say: "How violent the inclination which leads us to sin! How 
powerful the empire which passion possesses over our hearts ! How 
seductive the charms of bad example ! Who can successfully con- 
tend against such enemies!" Who can contend against such 
enemies ! The true Christian, — who arms himself with a firm and 
energetic will. "But man is so weak ! " Yes, man is weak, but he 
can render himself strong, he can give himself an iron will against 
sin and passion : all he needs is prayer, for prayer is an omnipotent 
act, which places the strength of heaven at the disposal of man. 
"If any of you," says the Apostle St. James, "want wisdom, let 
him ask of God, who giveth to all. abundantly.*" **Ask and you 
shall receive," said our blessed Lord, and "if you ask the Father 
any thing in my name, He will give it you."f Pray, and be assured 
that God, who is just and faithful, will not permit the temptation 
to be above your strength. 

Nevertheless, my Brethren, we must not neglect to join watchful- 
ness to prayer. Fear presumption, for God resists the proud and 
lets confusion come upon them. "Watch ye, and pray, that ye 
enter not into temptation. "J "Work your salvation with fear and 
trembling."§ Such is the advice which the Spirit of God gives us 

» St. James, i : 5. t St. John, xvi -.23. J St. Matt, xxv'i : 41. § Philippians, ii : 12. 



490 SHORT SERMONS. 

in the inspired volume. Distrust yourselves then ; avoid all places 
and occasions which endanger your virtue ; shun the company of 
such as would lead you into sin, and keep far from you every thing 
which has been, or which you have just reason to fear, will he for 
you a source of dangerous temptations. Assuredly, we need not 
he surprised at the frequency of our falls, if, though conscious of 
the secret and powerful inclination which drags us toward sin and 
vice, we nevertheless dare seek those occasions wherein we have so 
often before suffered shipwreck, and place ourselves in circumstances 
wherein it is in a manner impossible for us not to yield to passion. 
Does not the Holy Ghost tell us, that he who loves the danger shall 
perish in it ? If then you desire not to become the slaves of sin and 
vice, be on your guard against every thing calculated to lead you 
to evil ; take care not to add to the natural corruption of your hearts 
by excess in eating or drinking ; avoid and detest the reading of 
those books or papers wherein religion or morality is set at naught ; 
shun, as you would a plague, the pestiferous breath of those men 
whose lips distil the poison of impurity or impiety ; renounce for 
ever that society, that connection, those pleasures and diversions 
which have so often proved a rock of scandal to you. Furnish no 
new fuel to the fire you would extinguish. Is it your desire to 
weaken and subdue in yourselves the inclination which leads you to 
sin : refuse it then all nourishment ; keep far, far away from you 
every thing capable of inspiring bad passions in your souls. No 
sacrifice is too great to escape the misfortune of an unhappy eternity. 
Our Saviour bids us pluck out an eye, if it is a source of scandal to 
us, for it is better for us to go to heaven with one eye, than to hell 
with two. 

Still, my Brethren, however vigilant, wise, prudent and careful 
of our salvation we may be, we shall never be able to divest our- 
selves of all Inclination to Sin. The Apostle tells us, that to avoid 
all the occasions of sin, we should leave the world. Let us then 
ever remain justly distrustful of ourselves; let us remember the 
presence of God, and never forget that He loves and recompenses 
virtue, — that He detests and punishes vice. In times of temptation 
then, let us say: **To preserve the grace of God and gain heaven, 
I must fight and conquer." Call on the Lord for light, strength 



ON OUE INCLINATION TO SIN. 491 

and succor, and like St. Paul, you will be able to do every thing in 
Him who will strengthen you. 

It is thus, my Brethren, that we ought to struggle against the 
bad inclination, — against the passions and corruption of our nature ; 
it is thus we must overcome " the imagination and thought of our 
heart, which are prone to evil from our youth." Be convinced that 
the practice of virtue is an indispensable duty, the violation of 
which is a crime, since the will "of God is our sanctification." Let 
us be persuaded that we can remain faithful to virtue, and can sur- 
mount the vicious inclination of our hearts, if we are men of good 
will ; that all we need to obtain this good will and strength to 
carry it into effect, is to ask them of God. Let us be prudent and 
distrust ourselves; let us shun as far as possible the dangerous 
occasions of sin; let us never lose sight of our last end, death, 
judgment, eternity, and we shall never sin ; but shall ever remain 
virtuous until God calls us to heaven, where there is neither sorrow, 
nor pain, nor temptation, nor dangers, but eternal happiness. — 
Amen. 




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